On Tuesday, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced that Grace Johnson (Oglala Sioux Tribe) will serve as the Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons for the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
The Liasion for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons is supervised and led by Bureau Chief of the Criminal Bureau. The liaison will coordinate with tribal,federal, state, and local entities in reporting and investigating missing and murdered Indigenous persons.
According to a report released in May 2023, Native American individuals made up from 4.3 percent to 5.9 percent of Nebraska’s missing-person population, depending on the time interval, but only 1.5 percent of the state’s overall population.
A 2014 graduate Bellevue University, Johnson received a master’s in clinical counseling. Since then, she has extensive experience working with tribal communities.
She previously served as an advisory board member for Community Action as part of the Honoring Indigenous Families Grant. In addition, she held positions on the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board and the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Coalition Board.
In 2022, Grace Johnson served as a mental health therapist for the University of Nebraska Medical Center after previously serving as the Director of Behavior Health Department for the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.
The Unicameral (Nebraska legislature) funded this position earlier to improve investigations and reporting for missing and murdered persons in Native communities.
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