Attorney General of South Dakota
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. 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. History. Within South Dakota, the office of attorney general is often considered a stepping stone to the office of governor. 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). Living former Attorneys General of South Dakota. , there were six 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 Frank Farrar (served 1963–1969) on October 31, 2021. Elections. 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.