About Speaker

Dawanna S. Witt was sworn in as Hennepin County sheriff on Jan. 3, 2023. She is the first woman and person of color to hold the office. In her first two years, Witt has created a new Auto Theft Unit to combat historic high numbers, reinstated the DARE program to build relationships with the community at a young age, prioritized providing Narcan trainings and free Narcan to fight the growing opioid crisis and launched a jail data dashboard for transparency inside the Adult Detention Center, and she continues to advocate for law enforcement with county officials.

Sheriff Witt has been in law enforcement for more than two decades. She started her career in 2000 as a detention deputy in Hennepin County. In 2004, she became a licensed peace officer and was hired by the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office. There, Witt worked many roles including bailiff, transport, school resource officer, detective, crisis negotiator, recruitment coordinator, diversity and inclusion coordinator and more. She was the first woman in the agency’s history to become a captain. In 2019, Witt returned to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office to take charge of the agency’s largest bureau, Adult Detention and Court Services, and was elected as sheriff in 2022. She holds undergraduate degrees in chemical dependency and family therapy and police science and dual master’s degrees in public safety administration and management. Witt is an adjunct professor at Inver Hills Community College, teaching juvenile justice and American corrections.