2026 Conference Sessions

Opening Remarks

Sheriff Leo Dutton

Chair, Montana Board of Crime Control

Presentation of Colors

Honor Guard

National Anthem

Presented by Teen Tones Choir directed by Carolyn Van Slyke

Welcome

Randy Shipman

Youth Justice Council Chair, Montana Board of Crime Control

Montana law enforcement agencies frequently confront cold cases, unidentified human remains, and missing persons investigations where DNA evidence is minimal, degraded, or decades old—and traditional forensic approaches have reached their limits. The Snow Molecular Anthropology Laboratory (SMAL) at the University of Montana specializes in these challenging cases and serves as a resource for agencies seeking scientifically sound, ethical, and cost effective pathways forward.

This presentation will introduce Montana law enforcement professionals to how forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) and advanced degraded DNA methodologies can be responsibly applied to real world investigations, particularly in rural contexts and small or isolated populations common across the state. Drawing from active casework and collaborative projects, including unidentified individuals in Montana and historically marginalized populations, the talk will focus on what FIGG can and cannot do, when it is appropriate to pursue, and how agencies can reduce investigative and legal risk while maximizing evidentiary value.

Victims Track
Hidden in Plain Sight: Recognizing and Responding to Child Trafficking and Exploitation

Dana Tool

Montana Child Sexual Assault Response Team Coordinator, Montana Department of Justice- Division of Criminal Investigation

Kylie Erp

Victim Service Specialist, Montana Department of Justice- Division of Criminal Investigation Human Trafficking Unit

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of child trafficking and exploitation, focusing on how these forms of abuse often go unrecognized within systems and communities. We will explore common recruitment tactics, risk factors, and behavioral and environmental indicators that may signal exploitation. The training emphasizes a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach to equip attendees with practical strategies to safely identify concerns, engage with impacted youth and initiate appropriate responses. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of how trafficking can present across settings including child welfare, law enforcement, youth court and healthcare. The session will include an interactive mock-case scenario, allowing attendees to apply their knowledge and experience by identifying potential indicators of trafficking and collaboratively developing response strategies that prioritize safety, trust and coordination across systems.

Law Enforcement Track
Repairing The Broken: Creating Change With The Inter-Personal Violence Perpetrator

Scott Nyeggard

Founder, Legacy Group, LLC

This session will help you create transformational change with your IPV clients. The evidence is quite clear that treatment for the perpetrator is possible when we understand the causes of this type of crime.  We will focus on the criminogenic needs, evidence-based interventions and the motivation to change future offenses. With a proven track record of 92% success three years after the original offense, this session will give you real tools to create real change.

General Track
Bodies, Boners, and Bad Guys

Dr. Jaymi Goetze

Instructor, Public Agency Training Council (PACT) and Author, Bodies, Boners & Bad Guys: Sexual Deviance and Homicide

Bodies, Boners, and Bad Guys is a two-hour deep dive into the behavioral, psychological, and investigative realities of sexually motivated violence and homicide. This session examines how fantasy development, paraphilic interests, power dynamics, and post-offense behavior intersect with crime scene evidence and offender decision-making. Participants will explore the difference between impulsive violence and instrumental, sexually driven homicide; how behavioral “signatures” differ from modus operandi; and how misinterpretation of sexual behavior at a scene can derail investigative direction. The course emphasizes practical application for homicide investigators, analysts, and prosecutors working complex and high-risk cases.

Community Corrections Track
How Physical Exercise and Nutrition Tie to Recovery

Shanna Peterson

Clinical Director, Elkhorn Treatment Center

Discussion regarding the importance of physical and nutritional health in recovery and how to implement these important pieces in corrections programs.

Thank you to Community Corrections for providing this session!

MBCC will honor the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and the 2026 Innovative Community Improvement Award recipient. Winners will be announced soon!

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a deserving individual (or group of individuals) who has achieved professional excellence and made lasting contributions to improve Montana’s justice system throughout their career. The award honors an individual’s proven leadership, vision, and innovation in their field.

The Innovative Community Improvement Award is presented to a deserving individual (or group of individuals) who has, through a specific campaign or program, made lasting contributions to promote public safety and crime prevention within their community. The award honors an individual’s proven leadership, vision, and innovation resulting in lasting contributions and significant improvements to their community.

Victims Track
The Weight We Carry Home: Boundaries, Grief, and the Lives We Don’t Get to Save

Daniel Champer

Director of Clinical and Residential Services, Florence Crittenton Family Services

This training often-unacknowledged grief that accumulates when effort, skill, and compassion are not enough. Participants will examine disenfranchised grief in helping roles, why unresolved endings linger in the nervous system, and how responsibility for outcomes can quietly become self-blame. Rather than promoting detachment, this session reframes boundaries as a matter of survivability—how helpers can remain present, ethical, and deeply caring without carrying what was never theirs to hold. This training offers language, permission, and practical frameworks for carrying meaning without carrying harm.

Law Enforcement Track
Law Enforcement Response to Drones

Officer Laz Schrek

Officer, Great Falls Police Department

This presentation will discuss basic FAA UAS operations/requirements and why it is important for all law enforcement officers to know this, including airspace clearance (LAANC/SGI), potential crimes committed with UAS/involving UAS, working with victims/witness for crimes involving UAS, considerations for taking UAS/associated items for evidentiary purposes, data/forensics from UAS/associated items, UAS terminology/acronyms, and UAS use of force by law enforcement considerations.

General Track
Access to Justice for All: Civil Legal Help in Montana

Harley Ternes

Justice for Montanans AmeriCorps member, Self-Help Law Center in Great Falls

Jain Walsh

Senior Staff Attorney, Montana Legal Services Association

Project Attorney, Community Justice Worker Domestic Violence grant

This presentation will provide information to distinguish between civil and criminal legal issues, and identify common civil legal barriers faced by individuals involved in the criminal justice system. This presentation will also provide an overview of Montana Legal Services association, our services, our programs, partnerships and our referral process and an overview of civil legal help resources available throughout Montana that are available to all. 

Community Corrections Track
Department of Corrections Updates including STEP Program Updates

Staff Members

Department of Corrections

Join Department of Corrections staff for agency related updates including updates on the STEP program.

Thank you to Community Corrections for providing this session!

Montana Board of Crime Control Presentation
MBCC Grant Operations Update and MBCC Monitoring 101

Join MBCC staff for an informative and engaging training session on grant related information and processes. If you are planning to attend Subgrantee Training remotely, you MUST register here: Register Here

Join MBCC staff for Music Bingo! MBCC will provide light appetizers.

Victims Track
Building Leadership Systems That Strengthen Community Crime Prevention

Shaan Rais

Effective crime prevention requires strong leadership, coordinated systems, and empowered teams across law enforcement, community organizations, and public agencies. In this session, Shaan Rais shares practical frameworks for building leadership systems that improve collaboration, strengthen accountability, and help organizations proactively address community safety challenges. The training will combine practical strategies, real-world leadership examples, and interactive discussion to help participants apply leadership structures that improve coordination, communication, and long-term crime prevention outcomes within their agencies and communities. 

Law Enforcement Track
Beyond the Marks: Investigating Strangulation

Detective Nathan Griesse

Officer, Missoula Police Department

Participants will learn the history and need for this training, be able to understand the trauma impact on the brain, signs and symptoms consistent with mechanism of strangulation, investigation considerations, and the importance of having countywide protocols implemented in their communities for a multi-disciplinary response. Attendees will learn and engage through PowerPoint presentation, open dialog, and case studies to better equip them on their next strangulation investigation. All information presented is credited to the Alliance for Hope International who is the leading non-profit organization training multidisciplinary professionals with responding to strangulation cases.

General Track
Bail Reform and Pretrial Services – Is this the future of Pretrial Release?

Keaton Welch

Pretrial Officer, Lewis and Clark County Criminal Justice Services

Emily Buehler

Data Analyst Supervisor, Lewis and Clark County Criminal Justice Services

This presentation will include specific data related to the prevalence of bail assigned and posted by individuals booked pretrial in Lewis and Clark County. This will also include data on the County’s pretrial services program, including characteristics of defendants and cases, their supervision during the pretrial period, and their outcomes of making all court appearances and remaining law abiding while released.

Community Corrections Track
Leadership and Management—learn tricks of the trade from Joe McClafferty-C.E.O.-Pepsi, Inc.

Joe McClafferty

C.E.O, Pepsi Inc.

 Leadership and Management—learn tricks of the trade from Joe McClafferty-C.E.O.-Pepsi, Inc.

Thank you to Community Corrections for providing this session!

Victims Track
When “Everyone Safe” Isn’t the End: Mastering Reunification

Christina Hayes

Associate Director, Montana Safe School Center

This session examines the core components of the Standard Reunification Method, with emphasis on planning considerations and the practical steps required to successfully conduct a reunification exercise following a crisis. Information will be delivered through a guided presentation and a case example featuring the Hamilton Middle School full‑scale reunification exercise, based on the Standard Reunification Method developed by the I Love U Guys Foundation and informed by real‑world implementation in school and community settings.

Law Enforcement Track
From Incarceration to Recovery: A Trauma-Informed Perspective on Breaking the Cycle of Addiction and Crime

Cheryl Garding

Dirctor of Communications and Outreach, Rimrock Foundation

This course explores the intersection of trauma, substance use disorders, criminal behavior, incarceration, and recovery through both evidence-based research and lived experience. Participants will examine how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma, and addiction influence behavior and decision-making and how trauma-informed approaches can improve officer interactions, community outcomes, and public safety.

General Track
Talk Saves Lives: An Introduction to Suicide Prevention in the Correctional Environment

Tracy Rassley

Program Manager, Montana Chapter, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

This presentation will provide insight to the scope of the problem of suicide in the general and corrections population, explain key research findings, recognize suicide risk factors and warning signs in yourself and others, demonstrate how to seek help for yourself and/or offer support to someone who may be in distress, and explain how to access crisis resources and services for yourself or others.

Community Corrections Track
Jail Based Programming: Innovative Probation, Tenancy Management, and Opiate Intervention

Alternatives Inc. Staff

Alternatives Inc.

In this presentation Alternatives Inc.’s staff will focus on innovative probation, tenancy management, and opiate intervention.

Thank you to Community Corrections for providing this session!