Suzanne Kay Breedlove | Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award
Oklahoma District Attorneys Council
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Suzanne Kay Breedlove has been employed at the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council since 1983 and played a prominent role in creating clear and concise policies regarding crime victims’ compensation and incorporating culturally sensitive language and inclusion for tribal culture.
Ms. Breedlove has been instrumental in addressing cultural activities relating to families of homicide victims and is a steadfast ally for Indian Country and beyond. She worked with the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Board to develop a new policy that included tribal cultural services. This policy has been used as an example across the country to provide a great example of crime victims’ compensation policies to other states that have American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.
Oklahoma has the second largest American Indian population in the Nation and Ms. Breedlove and her staff are working diligently to serve tribal crime victims. As Director of Victims Services she is the Administrator of the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Program and the Victims of Crime Act grant.
Ms. Breedlove has a history of writing proposed legislation and witnessing the adoption of those proposals for the enhancement of Oklahoma’s Crime Victims Compensation Act. In addition to this accomplishment, she has been instrumental in managing the Crime Victims Compensation Fund from a zero balance to a more than seven million dollar surplus.
On the national level, she has assisted the National Association of Crime Victims Compensation Boards in drafting the first Mass Casualty Protocol Manual for Victims Compensation Programs.
In 2011, Ms. Breedlove drafted and received the first 3-year Oklahoma State-Tribal Crime Victim Liaison Demonstration Program. The purpose of this project was to improve outreach and services to American Indian crime victims. This project has been accepted by the 38 federally recognized tribes headquartered in Oklahoma, crime victims, state and federal victim advocacy groups, and nonprofit agencies serving crime victims.