Testifying: Becoming an Effective Witness: Multi-Disciplinary Response to Victim Services Training

Testifying: Becoming an Effective Witness

Hybrid option: Zoom Registration REQUIRED https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0vcO6prjIsGdXYy7bFlYCjm73ABe6Wlm4U

RVSP REQUIRED: In Person attendance limited to 48! RSVP for In Person with Tifanie Petro at tifanie.petro@chssd.org

For who: Law enforcement, mental health, medical, child protection services, youth serving organizations, non-profit organizations, case managers, attorneys, prosecution partners.

Testifying can be scary! It can be challenging to understand the procedural process. As a professional you have valuable information that court officials need to made crucial decisions on behalf of both the victim and defendant.

During this training attendees will learn the foundation practices and expectations when called to court and how to be an effective participant in that process. We will also spend time learning how to apply the skills discussed during this training to real world scenarios!

Speakers: 

Tracey Dollison Decker has practiced as an attorney in the Rapid City area since she graduated from the Knudson School of Law at the University of South Dakota in 1999. Tracey worked as an attorney with the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office for nearly 20 years. Tracey now serves as the Attorney Consultant for the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault. Tracey provides trainings across the state for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and victim advocates about the dynamics of domestic violence and sexual assault. She continues to support the State Bar of South Dakota through her service on its Ethics and Women In Law Committees. She currently serves on the One Heart Board of Directors in Rapid City, SD. 

Lara Roetzel is the State’s Attorney for Pennington County, South Dakota. For twenty-eight years, Lara has been passionately advocating for victims, for justice and striving to prosecute the right people for the right reasons. She specializes in crimes of sexual violence and violence against women. Lara’s cases have been featured on television in episodes of “Snapped” and “See No Evil.” She is trainer for the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault and has presented in state and national forums on multiple topics. In 2017, Lara was named the Prosecutor of the Year by the South Dakota State’s Attorney Association. In 2023, she was presented the Children’s Home Society Child Advocacy Center’s Partners Protecting Kids Award. She is a wife, mother of five, grandmother, and a chronic volunteer. 

Hosted by: 

• Interagency Training Council 
• Children's Home Society 
• Pennington County State's Attorney's Office 
• Pennington County Sheriff’s Office 
• Rapid City Police Department 
• West River Mental Health Youth and Family Services 
• Oaye Luta Okolakiciye 
• Great Plains Tribal Leader’s Health Board 
• SD Network Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault 
• Department of Social Services Child Protection Services 
• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Counseling Office
• John T. Vucurevich Foundation WAVI (Working Against Violence Inc.)
• Lutheran Social Services