State’s attorney candidates meet in forum

Nelson, Nesvold debate qualifications in Q-and-A session

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BROOKINGS – Dan Nelson and Teree Nesvold, candidates for Brookings County state’s attorney, went head-to-head in a question-and-answer forum Saturday at the Brookings City & County Government Center.

The forum was hosted by the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee and moderated by Brookings City Councilor Dan Hansen. 

Questions posed to the candidates were accepted in advance and from the capacity crowd in the council chambers Saturday.

Opening statements

Nelson said he was a third-generation Brookings County resident, having grown up on the family farm in Elkton. 

“This is home,” he said.

A 2008 graduate of South Dakota State University, Nelson earned his law degree at the University of South Dakota. He was a deputy state’s attorney in Beadle County for approximately four years. He joined the United States Attorney’s Office, representing the U.S. in federal criminal prosecutions. He’s prosecuted felony and misdemeanor offenses, both juvenile and adult.

“I’ve conducted prosecution work my entire career,” Nelson said.

Nesvold, who now serves as interim state’s attorney, said she’s committed to continuing the work she does now.

“I am the state’s attorney. This is my office, my county and my passion, and I work tirelessly for the county’s citizens. This is not an 8-5 job, and that’s not who I am,” Nesvold said. “I live in Brookings County; I live in Brookings.”

She has been married to her husband, Dan, for 22 years and has a daughter at SDSU and a son in high school in Pipestone, Minnesota.

“So, I sacrifice every single day by not being where he is, but that’s how important … this job, this office, my office is,” Nesvold said.

Marijuana

Hansen asked what the candidates’ opinions were on decriminalizing marijuana.

“I think the research shows that medicinal marijuana does help people, so on that medicinal basis – as long as we can properly prescribe it and make sure that it’s administrated legally and safely – I think we should explore that,” Nelson said.

“In terms of recreational use, I’m opposed to that. I can’t tell you how many criminal histories that I’ve looked at in my career as a prosecutor and seen that possession or use of marijuana is usually where it begins,” Nelson said. “Recreational use, I think, is a slippery, slippery slope to ultimately legalizing all drugs, and that’s not something I would ever be in favor of.”

Nesvold said she was also in favor of exploring the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

“I agree if there’s a way to curtail and monitor the medicinal use of marijuana, I think that’s something that I would be in support of,” Nesvold said. 

“As far as recreational use, I’m against that. Working with juveniles, misdemeanors and felonies, there’s not been one pre-sentence report that I have seen that does not begin with the defendant starting his use of marijuana … at the age of 12-15 and then moving on to the other things because it’s just not doing what it used to do.

“Now, with the vaping, we’ve got even more problems,” Nesvold said. “Vaping is a concern to me because it is a gateway drug, and I believe that it is something that needs to not be legalized.”

Professional networks

Hansen asked what role professional networks play in how the candidates would do their job.

“My office has always had a close working relationship with the attorney general’s office, and I have a tight network of state’s attorneys that I call if there’s questions,” Nesvold said.

“I’ve found that the attorney general would rather have us ask before they have to fix something on appeal. So, I’m very cognizant of that,” she said.

“I make sure to reach out to the attorney general’s office on any issues of first impression. We have an extensive research library in our office because of all of the work Clyde (Calhoon, former Brookings County state’s attorney) did for 42 years,” Nesvold said.

“I’ve always just done what any good attorney should do and that’s not make up the law, but find out exactly how to apply the law,” Nesvold said.

Nelson said he has working relationships at the federal level.

“Working at the U.S. attorney’s office has given me a unique advantage to understanding how the FBI investigates cases, how the United States Marshals Service investigates, and obviously I’ve built relationships with all those federal agencies,” Nelson said. 

“I was selected to represent Brookings County on the board of directors for the South Dakota State’s Attorneys Association. So by representing Brookings County on that board, I have the distinct advantage of collaborating collectively with the other state’s attorneys in the other counties to make sure that what we’re doing in Brookings County, Watertown, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, is one cohesive team,” Nelson said.

“And working collectively at the state level with other state’s attorneys, as well as my relationships with a lot of the federal agencies, having worked for the current U.S. attorney, Ron Parsons; having a close relationship with Randy Seiler, Jason Ravnsborg, two of the next possible attorney general, really gives me the necessary relationships … to bounce ideas off of and making sure that implementation and law creation is centered around the state’s attorney’s office work. So I’m committed to doing that,” Nelson said.

Different situations

Hansen asked the candidates about the most difficult situation they’ve encountered and how their professional experience helped them.

Nelson said he prosecuted a case last year in which a girl had been sexually abused as a child but came forward as a teenager.

“The evidence was centered around her testimony,” Nelson said, adding it’s difficult to get a conviction in those cases. 

There was an opportunity for the defendant to plead guilty to sexual contact and be sentenced to 15 years. 

“I spoke with the victim, I spoke with the victim’s family about that. And we felt that based on the conduct that that was not going to be justice and we proceeded to trial. And she did a fantastic job telling her story,” Nelson said.

“Having the opportunity to represent her at that trial was tremendously fulfilling. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to numerous years in prison,” Nelson said.

“It was that decision to go to trial that was very difficult, but it was rooted in proven courtroom experience because I had conducted jury trials. I had the confidence and the ability to turn that plea offer down and proceed trial, where ultimately a lot of justice was done,” Nelson said.

Nesvold says she regularly works with assault victims.

“I think the hardest thing is, at least weekly, I meet with a victim, whether it’s a victim of aggravated assault or sexual assault, and making sure that their wants, their needs – I will never be one of those who dictates whether another state’s attorney has done something,” Nesvold said. “Most of the time, those kinds of decisions, they’re done by the state’s attorney, not the deputy state’s attorney.

“But until you have that victim sitting with you, talking about the trauma, talking about the issues, and as a woman who has been through a sexual assault, I can relate because you can always have empathy, but you can’t always understand. So that’s something else that I bring is having that knowledge and having that ability to relate,” Nesvold said.

Trial experience

Hansen asked why trial experience is important, and what percentage of a state’s attorney’s time is spent on prosecution.

“Some of the most important and consequential decisions a state’s attorney will make will happen in a courtroom, and those decisions often happen during jury trials,” Nelson said. 

“Some of the most violent offenders that put the most people at risk in our communities insist on a jury trial because they are unwilling to take accountability for what they’ve done,” Nelson said. 

“I’ve conducted 21 jury trials, both in state and federal court, 21 jury trials as lead counsel, so I have the proven courtroom experience to conduct that felony jury trials in a manner that hopefully is in full pursuit of justice,” Nelson said.

“Jury trial experience allows you to weigh the evidence. You know how the evidence will play in front of a jury and so it helps you understand in which case you should and should not go to trial, but it also helps you in determining what evidence is persuasive based on your experience,” Nelson said.

Nesvold said jury trials are rare in Brookings County, and there’s much more to the job of state’s attorney.

“I agree experience matters; but Brookings County experience is what is primarily important in this election,” Nesvold said.

“For the last five years, we’ve had four jury trials. This is just Brookings County’s way,” she said.

“We get ready for a trial every single month. I have a trial in two weeks. Will it go? I don’t know,” Nesvold said.

“But there’s so much more to this job than just getting accolades and getting jury trials and getting wins and losses because nobody wins in a trial,” Nesvold said.

“The criminal aspect and courtroom aspect are important; they are not the job,” Nesvold said.

Special place

Hansen asked what makes Brookings County a special place and how the candidates are involved in the community.

“First and foremost, it’s home; you know I grew up here,” Nelson said. His parents still live on the family farm; he has siblings and cousins in the area, some of whom own businesses.

“Brookings is home, and I don’t have to explain why home is special. All of you understand that,” Nelson said.

“Having the honor of representing my hometown communities, my people, as your next state’s attorney would be a tremendous honor, an honor I don’t take lightly,” Nelson said.

“We have a lot of great civic organizations here in Brookings that all play an integral part in making us a safe community. I am anxious and excited – if I’m fortunate to be elected – to play a leading role in that,” Nelson said.

Nesvold highlighted her community service.

“For five years, I’ve been in this county, and I consider it home, as well,” Nesvold said, adding she’s a member of Lions Club, Rotary Club, Brookings Empowerment Project, and the Optimist Club. She teaches at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. She’s on the Citizens Task Force and the Crisis Intervention Task Force “to get mental health issues de-escalated at the outset,” Nesvold said.

“It’s not what I want to do, it’s what I’m doing,” she said. “It is your obligation to give back, no matter what community you live in.”

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.