South Dakota Pays for Employees to Get Schooled in Racial Disparities

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has agreed to foot the training bill for a group of Minnehaha County criminal justice officials seeking training on racial and ethic disparities in the juvenile justice system.

The five county officials are seeking acceptance into a Georgetown University program called Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice. 

The group includes representatives from the Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County’s State’s Attorney and Public Defender offices, a circuit court judge and the county’s Racial and Ethnic Fairness Coordinator.

“We would be working with experts across the country who have had success reducing disparities in the juvenile justice system,” said Annie Brokenleg, who serves as the county’s Racial and Ethnic Fairness Coordinator.

In 2011, the Unified Judicial System implemented a program in Minnehaha and Pennington counties to help trim the numbers of juveniles being locked up before trial. The program was expanded to other parts of the state following its success.