Leroy (J.R.) LaPlante is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and is a 2009 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law, with an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. J.R. was formerly the Director of Tribal Relations for Avera Health in Sioux Falls, an Assistant United States Attorney and Tribal Liaison with the United States Attorney’s Office in Sioux Falls, the State of South Dakota’s first Secretary of Tribal Relations, Chief Judge for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, an Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps Legal Fellow, and a Bush Foundation Native Nation Rebuilder. JR is married to Kathy and they have one daughter, Anisah. His Lakota name is Tasunka Waste.