Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of two stories featuring candidates for Brookings County state’s attorney.
BROOKINGS – Dan Nelson knows that being the Brookings County state’s attorney comes with a lot of responsibility, and he said he has the experience needed to continue to hold criminals accountable to justice and to keep the county a safe place to live.
Nelson’s running as a Republican against Teree Nesvold, who’s running as an Independent. Nesvold was appointed as the interim Brookings County state’s attorney in January.
This race will be to fill out the remaining two years of the four-year term of former State’s Attorney Abigail Howard, who resigned at the start of this year in order to serve as a magistrate judge for the Third Judicial Circuit. When the position is up again on the 2020 ballot, it will be for the full four-year term.
An Elkton native, Nelson has called Brookings County home for about 30 years and has gained a variety of experience as an attorney since graduating from the University of South Dakota School of Law.
He said he feels “called to serve and protect the communities I’ve called home for over 30 years” and that “it would be a tremendous honor to represent and serve the people of Brookings County as your state’s attorney.”
He’s always had a passion for public service. After graduating from South Dakota State University with a political science degree in 2008, he planned to go into the Army as an infantry officer. However, a medical issue with his eye put a stop to those plans, and he later went forward with law school.
“When I was in law school, I knew I wanted to serve in the public sector. When I interned at the federal public defender office in Pierre during law school, I realized that the public service that was calling me was to serve in a prosecutor’s role, having opportunities to represent victims and stand up for and pursue justice,” Nelson said.
After earning his law degree, he served as deputy state’s attorney for Beadle County for four years. From there, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office in Pierre, working as an assistant U.S. attorney under Randy Seiler.
“I prosecuted violent felonies that occurred on the Rosebud Reservation, so I had an opportunity to prosecute complex, high-profile federal cases that happened on the Indian reservations,” Nelson said.
In those cases, he typically prosecuted such crimes as sexual assault and manslaughter, and he assisted on homicide investigations and prosecutions.
His years of work in these roles have given him trial experience at both state and federal court, which he said would be a great benefit to Brookings County.
“Trial experience is important in a state’s attorney,” Nelson said. “The experience in conducting jury trials can result in ensuring that a defendant is held fully accountable under the law and the most difficult and the most consequential things that happen often happen during a jury trial.”
He pointed to a first-degree rape case he handled as lead counsel last year as an example of his experience put to work.
“It involved a young female victim who had been sexually abused when she was 7 years old, and she later disclosed that when she was a teenager. The only evidence we had in that case was her word,” Nelson said.
The defendant wanted to plead guilty to sexual contact, which carried a maximum sentence of 15 years. Nelson, the victim and her family decided instead to go to trial “because justice was not going to be served with a 15-year sentence.”
In the end, the defendant was successfully convicted of first-degree rape and was sentenced to 50 years in the state penitentiary.
The county faces a variety of challenging issues that need to be addressed, Nelson said.
One worrying trend is an increase in felony sex crimes, especially ones involving children.
“As a state and federal prosecutor, I have been lead counsel on the prosecution of child predators across South Dakota. Often, child predators are unwilling to take full accountability and a trial is necessary,” Nelson said.
He also points to an increase in felony drug crimes in the county. To address the issue, he proposes a three-prong approach.
The first part of that is to increase prevention efforts. Nelson said he’d work with schools to make sure students are educated about the addictive and harmful nature of drug use.
The second part emphasizes addiction and mental health treatment by “fully (utilizing) our local resources.”
The third prong consists of aggressively pursuing drug distributors. He again points to his courtroom record as evidence that he’ll hold drug dealers responsible and fully accountable.
“Having a proven track record both in federal and state I think gives me the experience necessary to successfully complete the important work of the state’s attorney,” Nelson said. “I have the passion and the dedication to this county to make sure we confront felony crime and will work to ensure the safety of all in Brookings County.”
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
