PIERRE - Federal authorities say a new prosecutor has begun handling cases on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota and North Dakota.

Erin Shanley was sworn in last week as special assistant U.S. attorney for the tribe. She is headquartered at the tribal court offices in Fort Yates, N.D.

Brendan Johnson, U.S. attorney for South Dakota, says the position was added as part of a historic agreement between Standing Rock and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Johnson says Shanley will handle prosecution of cases involving domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. She will have authority to pursue those cases in federal and tribal courts.

Shanley is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who previously served as assistant prosecutor for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona.

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