Attorney General of South Dakota

Attorney General of South Dakota
Seal of South Dakota
Incumbent Jason Ravnsborg since January 5, 2019
Style	The Honorable
Term length	Four years, renewable once [1]
Formation	Constitution of South Dakota, 1889
First holder	Robert Dollard
Salary	$118,603 [2]
Website	https://atg.sd.gov/

The Attorney General of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an executive position as the state's chief legal officer. In 1992, the voters approved a Constitutional Amendment to limit all constitutional officers and the governor to two consecutive four year terms.^[3][4]

Structure of the office[]

The South Dakota Attorney General's Office represents and provides legal advice to agencies, boards, and commissions of the government of South Dakota. The office represents the state in state and federal court, as well as in administrative adjudication and rulemaking hearings. The office handles felony criminal appeals, advises local prosecutors in the conduct of criminal trials and handles cases at the request of local prosecutors. In addition, the office issues formal opinions interpreting statutes for the agencies and political subdivisions of the state.^[5]

History[]

Within South Dakota, the office of attorney general is often considered a stepping stone to the office of governor.^[6] Six attorneys general Coe I. Crawford (won 1904 & 1906), Merrell Q. Sharpe (won 1942 & 1944; lost 1946), George Theodore Mickelson (won 1946 & 1948), Sigurd Anderson (won 1950 & 1952; lost 1964), Frank Farrar (won 1968; lost 1970) and Bill Janklow (won 1978, 1982, 1994 & 1998) have each been elected governor. While six others, Robert Dollard (lost 1892), Mark Barnett (lost 2002), Buell Jones (lost 1928), Leo Temmey (lost 1942), Phil Saunders (lost 1958), and Marty Jackley (lost 2018), have run for governor unsuccessfully. Attorneys General and former Attorneys General have a record of 13 wins and 9 losses in running for Governor. A graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law has held the office of Attorney General uninterrupted since 1959. South Dakota has the second longest streak of Republican Attorneys General in the country, dating back to 1975 (Nebraska has had Republican Attorneys General since 1951). ^[7]

List of attorneys general[]

Parties

  Democratic (4)   Republican (26)   Populist (1)

No.	Picture	Name (Birth-Death)	Term of Office	Political Party	Law school
1		Robert Dollard (1842-1912)	1889–1893	Republican	Read law
2		Coe I. Crawford (1858-1944)	1893–1897	Republican	University of Iowa College of Law
3		Melvin Grigsby (1845-1917)	1897–1899	Populist	Read law with William Pitt Dewey
4		John L. Pyle (1860-1902)	1899–1902	Republican	Read law under Manford E. Williams
5		Adolphus W. Burtt (1832-1917)	1902–1903	Republican	Read Law under Michael E. Crofoot
6		Philo Hall (1865-1938)	1903-1907	Republican	Read law under J.O. Andrews
7		S. Wesley Clark (1872-1949)	1907–1911	Republican	Read law under Thomas Sterling
8		Royal Johnson (1882-1939)	1911–1915	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
9		Clarence C. Caldwell (1877-1957)	1915–1919	Republican	University of Chicago Law School (attended) University of South Dakota School of Law (graduated)
10		Byron S. Payne (1876-1949)	1919–1923	Republican	University of Minnesota Law School
11		Buell F. Jones (1892-1947)	1923–1929	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
12		Merrell Q. Sharpe (1888-1962)	1929–1933	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
13		D. Walter Conway (1898-1956)	1933–1937	Democratic	Creighton University School of Law
14		Clair Roddewig (1902-1975)	1937–1939	Democratic	Creighton University School of Law
15		Leo A. Temmey (1894-1975)	1939–1943	Republican	University of Minnesota Law School
16		George T. Mickelson (1903-1965)	1943–1947	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
17		Sigurd Anderson (1904-1990)	1947–1951	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
18		Ralph A. Dunham (1906-1959)	1951–1955	Republican	University of Iowa College of Law
19		Phil Saunders (1920-1997)	1955–1959	Republican	Northwestern University School of Law
20		Parnell J. Donahue (1916-1990)	1959–1961	Democratic	University of South Dakota School of Law
21		Albert C. Miller (1898-1979)	1961–1963	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
22		Frank Farrar (b. 1929)	1963–1969	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
23		Gordon Mydland (b. 1922)	1969–1973	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
24		Kermit A. Sande (1943-2018)	1973–1975	Democratic	University of South Dakota School of Law
25		Bill Janklow (1939-2012)	1975–1979	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
26		Mark V. Meierhenry (1944-2020)	1979–1987	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
27		Roger Tellinghuisen (b. 1953)	1987–1991	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
28		Mark Barnett (b.1954)	1991–2003	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
29		Larry Long (b. 1947)	2003–2009	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
30		Marty Jackley (b. 1970)	2009–2019	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law
31		Jason Ravnsborg (b. 1976)	2019–present	Republican	University of South Dakota School of Law

Living former Attorneys General of South Dakota[]

As of August 2021, there were seven former and current Attorneys General of South Dakota still alive, the oldest Attorneys General of South Dakota being Gordon Mydland (served 1969–1973, born 1922). The most recent Attorney General of South Dakota to pass away was Mark V. Meierhenry (served 1979–1987) on July 29, 2020.

Elections[]

Elections in South Dakota
show Federal government Presidential elections 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Presidential primaries Democratic 2008 2016 2020 Republican 2008 2012 2016 2020 U.S. Senate elections 1914 1918 1920 1924 1926 1930 1932 1936 1938 1938 (sp) 1942 1944 1948 1950 1954 1956 1960 1962 1966 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 U.S. House elections 2002 2004 special 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Special elections At-large, 2004
show State government General elections 2010 2014 2018 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Attorney General elections 2018 State Senate elections 2020 State House elections 2020
show Ballot measures 2006 Amendment C 2008 Measure 9 Measure 10 2020 Amendment A Measure 26
v t

The voters of the U.S. State of South Dakota elect an attorney general for a four-year term. The winning candidate is shown in bold.

 S.H. Cranmer (Socialist) 2,906
 Geo W Lattin (Scales of Justice) 141

See also[]

• United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota
• South Dakota Supreme Court
• University of South Dakota School of Law
• Attorney General of Minnesota

References[]

External links[]

• South Dakota Attorney General official website
• South Dakota Attorney General articles at Legal Newsline Legal Journal
• South Dakota Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
• News and Commentary at FindLaw
• South Dakota Codified Laws at Law.Justia.com
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of South Dakota" at FindLaw
• State Bar of South Dakota
• South Dakota Attorney General Marty J. Jackley profile at National Association of Attorneys General
• Press releases at South Dakota Attorney General