This video is from SDPB's news program, South Dakota Focus.
Last month, Representative Tamara St. John joined us to discuss her bill to fund the missing and murdered Indigenous person's liaison position in the attorney general's office. Lawmakers created that position last year in response to the disproportionate number of unsolved missing and murdered cases, but the position hasn't yet been filled.
Last week, the non-profit Native Hope announced it will fund the position at $85,000 a year for three years.
The announcement came just after two women were found dead in the span of a week on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Cheryl Tia Longsoldier was missing more than a month before family and volunteers found her near Oglala. And Shayna Youngman Afraid of His Horses was found north of Manderson.
Representative Peri Pourier of Pine Ridge had also introduced a bill to fund the liaison position.
