In 1996, with Executive Order 96-06, South Dakota Governor William J. "Bill" Janklow created the Governor's Commission on Fort Sisseton, ensuring that dedicated local individuals with knowledge of history and a passion for the past would help guide the fort's management and preservation. He was instrumental in securing substantial private, state, and federal funds for the fort's renovation and restoration, and that funding also enabled expanded four-season use and enhanced interpretive efforts. Year after year, he sent specially trained teams of prison trusties to the fort, where they worked thousands of hours rehabilitating the buildings and improving the grounds.