Hon. Dawanna Witt

Dawanna S. Witt was elected as the Hennepin County Sheriff on November 8, 2022. She was sworn in and took office on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. She is the first woman and person of color to hold the office. During her career at Dakota County, she worked in a variety of roles, including bailiff, transport, school resource officer, detective, crisis negotiator, recruitment coordinator, diversity and inclusion coordinator, and more. She became the first woman in the agency’s history to reach the rank of captain. Her work has always focused on reaching out to young people and communities that have historically had poor relationships with the police.