Top role in Missing Indigenous Person Task Force vacant as lawmakers consider bills combating crisis

Almost exactly one year into the job, Montana’s Missing Indigenous Persons coordinator has left the post. 

A spokesperson for the state Department of Justice said the department is recruiting to fill the position.

Created by the state Legislature in 2019, Montana’s Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force includes representatives from every tribe as well as from state and federal law enforcement entities. The Missing Indigenous Persons coordinator manages the task force and generally works to improve the state’s response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis. The task force works together to analyze data and present recommendations to lawmakers. While Native Americans comprise 6.7% of Montana’s population, as of this week, they accounted for about 27% of the state’s active cases of missing people. 

The top role in the state task force is vacant as lawmakers consider legislation to combat the disproportionately high rates of violence against Indigenous people. While the DOJ spokesperson said the task force will continue to meet while the position is open, staffing issues have stalled the group’s work in the past. 

When Justin Kambic was hired to lead the task force last April, many in the group celebrated. Kambic served as the search and rescue coordinator for Cascade County, and he’d participated in several searches for Arden Pepion, a 3-year-old girl who went missing on the Blackfeet Reservation in 2021.

Kambic’s hiring also meant the task force could get back to work. While several laws passed in the 2023 legislative session aimed to bolster the task force, advocates said implementation of the new laws had stalled. A justice department official said at an interim legislative budget committee meeting in Dec. 2023 that five months into the fiscal year, $30,500 intended to establish a grant program within the task force had not been spent. The official also noted that $105,081 had not yet been spent to extend the task force, as a new state law had required.

Montana Department of Justice leaders at the time attributed the delays to staffing. They said the department needed to hire a missing Indigenous persons coordinator to lead the task force. Once that person was hired, DOJ officials said they could appoint members to the task force and the body could begin to meet again. 

Shortly after Kambic was tapped to lead the task force last April, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen appointed new members to the group. About a year into the role, however, Kambic left for a position within the Justice Department’s Division of Criminal Investigation.

Haley Omeasoo, who serves on the task force, said she’s grateful to have worked with Kambic.

“Justin is one of the most amazing people I have worked with,” she said. “He’s really intelligent and passionate about working with Indigenous communities. … I just hope we can move forward and continue this work.”

A job listing for the position is posted on Montana.gov. It lists pay as $25 to $27 per hour, and job responsibilities include overseeing the task force, conducting outreach and education in tribal communities, analyzing data and writing reports.  

LEGISLATION AIMS TO COMBAT MMIP CRISIS

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, is carrying several bills this legislative session that stem from task force recommendations. 

House Bill 83, allowing the task force to receive donations, grants and other money, was signed into law in February. Advocates say the new law will bring more resources and stability to the task force. 

House Bill 545 would rename the task force the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Advisory Council and add a homicide investigator to the group. Running Wolf and other supporters argued that the name “task force” can be misleading, as it implies that the group will assist with on-the-ground searches and investigations. 

“A task force is a unit specifically organized for a task,” Rep. Shelly Fyant, D-Arlee, said during a House Judiciary Committee meeting in February. “An advisory council is a group of people who provide guidance and advice … They’re often made up of experts with specialized skills.”

Alan Doane, the task force’s current presiding officer, told the House Judiciary Committee that if HB 545 were to become law, the homicide investigator would serve the group in an advisory capacity.

“By adding ‘murdered’ to the (name of the) task force, we need an expert on there that can help guide that conversation and bring information,” he said. HB 545 sailed through the House and will move to the Senate for consideration. 

House Joint Resolution 1, which has cleared the House, urges Congress to fully fund law enforcement on reservations in Montana. While resolutions cannot create law or force action, they are meant to convey the Legislature’s desires and priorities. Running Wolf in a March 25 hearing said adequate funding is necessary for tribes “to protect their communities.”

Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, sponsored Senate Bill 107, which requires the Office of Public Instruction to develop curricula on how to identify, avoid and prevent human trafficking. The bill cleared the Senate in January and will be considered by the House. In a House Education Committee hearing last week, Webber called the legislation “a critical component of this Legislature’s responsibility to protect the children of Montana.”