Griffin: ‘It is only through this kind of intentional collaboration that we can make a real difference in the fight against human trafficking in Arkansas’

LITTLE ROCK – Following a successful multi-agency operation targeting human trafficking in northeast Arkansas, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:

“Earlier this month, member agencies of the Arkansas Human Trafficking Council—including my office—conducted a human trafficking recovery operation in Jonesboro. This operation led to one suspected trafficker and 30 local victims being identified, with five women being contacted and offered victim services, including food, lodging, onsite medical services, counseling and drug rehabilitation. Four of the women voluntarily accepted assistance.

“I applaud the efforts of this coalition of organizations, which represent both law enforcement and victim services groups. It is only through this kind of intentional collaboration that we can make a real difference in the fight against human trafficking in Arkansas.”

Operation HART—Human Anti-Trafficking Recovery Team—involved law enforcement agencies and victim service providers from around the state working in tandem to combat human trafficking, recover victims and detain traffickers. The law enforcement agencies involved were the Office of the Attorney General, Arkansas State Police, the Jonesboro Police Department, the Arkansas State University Police Department, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation task force members, the Harrison Police Department and the Arkansas Fusion Center. Victim advocate organizations included in the operation were the Regional Intervention of Sexual Exploitation (RISE), The Genesis Project, Hope Found of Northeast Arkansas, Paws for Justice, ACASA and the NWA Forensic Nurse Team.

To download a PDF of this release, click 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 27 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 lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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