BROOKINGS – Dan Nelson announced his candidacy for Brookings County state’s attorney on Thursday.

“I am honored to announce my candidacy to become the next state’s attorney in Brookings County and to passionately serve and protect the communities we call home,” the Elkton native wrote in a prepared statement.

Nelson was raised on his family’s farm near Elkton. He received his undergraduate degree at South Dakota State University and later obtained his law degree at the University of South Dakota. After law school, he worked in Huron as a deputy state’s attorney for Beadle County.

After running for Brookings County state’s attorney in 2016, Nelson then joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota. As an assistant U.S. attorney, Nelson represented the U.S. in federal court, confronting violence in communities across the state.

“When the special election for state’s attorney was announced earlier this year, I knew my heart was to return to Brookings County and serve the county where I grew up,” he said.

Nelson met with law enforcement leaders in Brookings County and listened to their concerns about community safety. What he said he heard was a need for a balanced approach that most effectively utilizes limited resources to ensure community safety.

As state’s attorney, he said he would emphasize a modern community approach to prosecution by emphasizing the importance of mental health treatment and rehabilitation for criminal offenders. If a criminal offender is in need of mental health treatment, the courts and law enforcement should work together to ensure that person receives the necessary help, Nelson added. Addressing that mental health concern is important to enabling that person to live a crime free life once they exit the criminal justice system.

As felony drug use continues to rise in Brookings County, Nelson believes the time is now to aggressively crackdown on the methamphetamine distributors. Nelson said he has the experience to confront and successfully lead the long-term fight that is necessary to protect the community from the encroaching drug epidemic. 

“My combined experience as a state and federal prosecutor gives me a unique understanding of the drug problem plaguing our communities,” Nelson said.

He wants to promote policies that help prevent crimes before they occur, including creative solutions to combat the most pressing of community safety issues.

He said he also wants to build a framework that includes law enforcement, the court system, South Dakota State University, local schools and community stake holders as partners to improve public safety.

Nelson, a Republican, will face interim Brookings County State’s Attorney Teree Nesvold, an Independent, in the November election. 

The term is for two years, to finish the term vacated by Abigail Howard when she was appointed a magistrate judge for the Third Judicial Circuit.