Yesterday, Governor Josh Green, M.D., and the Department of Human Services (DHS) announced the appointment of Trista Speer to serve as the 2nd Deputy Director for the DHS. She joins Director Cathy Betts, and Deputy Director Joseph Campos II in their respective leadership roles.
Most recently, Speer served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Public Safety Division of Hawai‘i’s Department of the Attorney General (AG), where her practice involved serving as an attorney advisor for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Department of Law Enforcement, as well as representing DPS and the state of Hawai‘i in various litigation matters.
Prior to her time at the AG’s office, Speer spent most of her career as a Deputy District Attorney (DDA) in various parts of Oregon. As a career prosecutor, Speer specialized in handling child welfare and juvenile delinquency matters, as well as major crimes involving human trafficking, violent felonies, and sex abuse crimes, with a proactive and trauma-informed approach with both adult and minor victims.
Speer also worked at a large law firm in Portland, Oregon in its complex commercial litigation group, focusing on areas such as eminent domain, construction defect, and mortgage-backed securities fraud.
In a statement Speer said, “I am honored to join the DHS team and I extend my sincerest appreciation to Director Betts for entrusting me with the opportunity to continue to protect the most vulnerable children, families, and individuals in our community, through an innovative, holistic and compassionate approach to empower our young people and families to thrive.”
Photo credit: Office of Governor Josh Green