Griffin: ‘Human trafficking is a reprehensible crime that preys on our most vulnerable Arkansans. It disregards human dignity, exploits the innocent and shatters lives’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing his office will hold its inaugural Human Trafficking Summit in October and that registration is open:

“Human trafficking is a reprehensible crime that preys on our most vulnerable Arkansans. It disregards human dignity, exploits the innocent and shatters lives. My summit will shed light on the global problem of human trafficking and will provide necessary training to help combat these crimes.”

The two-day Human Trafficking Summit will be held October 16-17, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on October 16 and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on October 17 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The Summit is free to attend and open to the public.

Byron Fassett, Program Manager with the National Criminal Justice Training Center, made the following statement regarding the importance of this summit:

“All forms of human trafficking, especially sex trafficking of children, needs to be invisible to operate and exist. This conference will provide the skills needed for a multi-disciplinary response to make the invisible visible, identify and recover victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.”

Attendees will hear from both national and local presenters on topics such as familial trafficking, trauma-informed investigations, human trafficking in the private sector, and strategies to strengthen public and private partnerships. Registration can be found here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 26 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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