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The United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota is responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. By statute, the U.S. attorney is responsible for prosecuting both federal crimes and all serious crimes committed by adults in the District of South Dakota. Therefore, the U.S. attorney for the South Dakota serves as both the federal prosecutor (as in the other 92 U.S. attorneys' offices) and as the local district attorney. As of February 26,2021 [update] the acting United States attorney is Dennis R. Holmes.
No. | U.S. Attorney | Term of office | Law school | President |
---|---|---|---|---|
23 | S. Wesley Clark | 1921–1926 | Read law under Thomas Sterling | Warren G. Harding |
24 | Olaf Eiden | 1926–1934 | University of Nebraska College of Law | Calvin Coolidge |
25 | George Philip Jr. | 1934–1947 | University of Michigan Law School | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
26 | Leo P. Flynn | 1947–1953 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Harry S. Truman |
27 | Clinton G. Richards | 1953–1961 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
28 | Harold C. Doyle | 1961–1969 | University of South Dakota School of Law | John F. Kennedy |
29 | William F. Clayton | 1969–1977 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Richard Nixon |
30 | David V. Vrooman | 1977–1978 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Jimmy Carter |
31 | Robert D. Hiaring | 1978–1979 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Jimmy Carter |
32 | Terry L. Pechota | 1979–1981 | University of Iowa College of Law | Jimmy Carter |
33 | Jeffrey L. Viken | 1981 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Jimmy Carter |
34 | Philip N. Hogen | 1981–1991 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Ronald Reagan |
35* | Kevin Schieffer (not confirmed by senate) | 1991–1993 | Georgetown Law Center | George H. W. Bush |
35 | Ted McBride | 1993 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Bill Clinton |
36 | Karen Schreier | 1993–1999 | St. Louis University School of Law | Bill Clinton |
37 | Ted McBride | 1999–2001 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Bill Clinton |
38 | James E. McMahon [1] | 2002–2005 | University of South Dakota School of Law | George W. Bush |
38* | Steven K. Mullins (recess appointment) [2] | 2006 | University of Oklahoma School of Law | George W. Bush |
39 | Marty Jackley | 2006–2009 | University of South Dakota School of Law | George W. Bush |
40 | Brendan Johnson | 2009–2015 | University of Virginia School of Law | Barack Obama |
41 | Randy Seiler | 2015–2017 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Barack Obama |
42 | Ron A. Parsons Jr. | 2018–2021 | University of South Dakota School of Law | Donald Trump |
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one federal courthouse in each district, and many districts have more than one. District court decisions are appealed to the U.S. court of appeals for the circuit in which they reside, except for certain specialized cases that are appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the U.S. federal judicial system, the United States is divided into 94 judicial districts. Each state has at least one judicial district, as do the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party who holds the record for the longest tenure as Governor of South Dakota: sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, state attorney or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county or a group of counties. The exact and scope of the office varies by state. Generally, the prosecutor represents the people of the jurisdiction. With the exception of three states, district attorneys are elected, unlike similar roles in other common law jurisdictions.
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against the defendant, an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically, the prosecutor represents the state or the government in the case brought against the accused person.
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal criminal prosecutor in their judicial district and represents the U.S. federal government in civil litigation in federal and state court within their geographic jurisdiction. U.S. attorneys must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, after which they serve four-year terms.
The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction for issues pertaining to federal law or diversity for the state of South Dakota. The court is based in Sioux Falls with other courthouses in Rapid City, Pierre, and Aberdeen. The district was created in 1889, when the Dakota Territory was divided into North and South Dakota.
The United States attorney for the Northern District of California is responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Raymond W. Gruender is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction is the state of North Dakota. The court is headquartered out of Bismarck at the William L. Guy Federal Building and has additional locations at Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot. Appeals from the Court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The structure of the government of South Dakota is based on that of the federal government, with three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The structure of the state government is laid out in the Constitution of South Dakota, the highest law in the state. The constitution may be amended either by a majority vote of both houses of the legislature, or by voter initiative.
The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school in the state of South Dakota. Established in 1901, by U.S. Ambassador Bartlett Tripp and U.S. Senator Thomas Sterling. The law school is home to approximately 168 students and has more than 3,000 alumni. With 168 J.D. candidates, it is currently the second-smallest law school and smallest public law school student population among the American Bar Association accredited law schools.
The United States attorney for the District of Columbia(USADC) is responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has two divisions, the Civil Division and the Criminal Division. The Civil Division is responsible for representing federal agencies in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and in appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Karen Elizabeth Schreier is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota and was the 36th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota.
Charles B. Kornmann is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
Jeffrey Lynn Viken is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
Drew Howard Wrigley is an American attorney, lawyer, and politician from North Dakota. Wrigley currently serves as the attorney general of North Dakota after being appointed to the position by Governor Doug Burgum following the death of Wayne Stenehjem. Wrigley had previously declared his candidacy for the office in early January 2022. Wrigley was elected to a four-year term in November 2022, garnering 71% of the vote. Wrigley previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota from 2001 to 2009 and again from 2019 to 2021, appointed by President George W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively. Between his terms as United States attorney, Wrigley served as the 37th lieutenant governor of North Dakota from 2010 to 2016.
Terrence George Berg is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Brendan Van Johnson is an American attorney who served as the 40th United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota. He is the son of former U.S. Senator Tim Johnson and currently is a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, a business litigation group.
Randolph John Seiler was an American attorney and veteran serving as the chair of the Democratic Party of South Dakota from 2019-2023. He served as the 41st United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota from 2015 until his retirement in 2017. Seiler was previously the Deputy United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota.