
- Founder 2012-2017
- Of Counsel 2017- Present
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I grew up on a farm in rural Lake County. After graduating from Madison High School, I went to South Dakota State University, where I graduated in 1976 with majors in political science and sociology and a minor in history. I journeyed down I-29 to attend law school at the University of South Dakota, graduating in December 1978. I have been married for 35 years to my wife, Sarah.
After three years with Dakota Plains Legal Services in Sisseton, first as a VISTA volunteer and then a staff attorney, I moved to Sioux Falls when the Public Defender’s Office opened in 1982. After nearly 30 years as a public defender, 22 of which I served as the head of the office, I went into private practice in December 2011 as Jeff Larson Law, P.C. It has been a privilege to hand over the reins of the office to Melissa and Angel in 2017.
Professional and community activities include: past president of the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association (receiving then Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 1996); former adjunct professor of Advanced Criminal Procedure at the USD Law School; member of the South Dakota Criminal Code Revision Committee and South Dakota Equal Justice Commission; former member of the board of Family Connection and Family Service, Inc.; recipient, along with longtime paralegal Kara Duncan, of the South Dakota Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer in 2013.
I am proud to have devoted my career to defending people accused of criminal (or juvenile) offenses, and I look forward to having the law firm continue with that as one of its missions.
Areas Of Practice
- N/A
Bar Admissions
- South Dakota, 1979
- U.S. District Court District of South Dakota, 1980
Education
- University of South Dakota School of Law, Vermillion, South Dakota
- J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence - 12/1978
- South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
- B.S., Bachelor of Science - 1976
- Honors: summa cum laude
- Major: Political Science
- Major: Sociology
- Minor: History
- Madison High School
Classes/Seminars
- Former Adjunct Professor, Advanced Criminal Procedure, USD Law School
Honors and Awards
- Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association,1996 -Present
- South Dakota Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer,2013-Present
Professional Associations and Memberships
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Member, 1984
- South Dakota Bar Association, Member, Criminal Law Committee, 1984 to 1988
- South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association, Director, 1992
- American Bar Association, Member, 1987
- South Dakota Criminal Code Revision Committee, Member
- South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association, Past President
Past Employment Positions
- Dakota Plains Legal Services, Sisseton, Staff Attorney
- Public Defender’s Office, Public Defender, Head of the Office
Pro Bono Activities
- Dakota Plains Legal Services, Sisseton, VISTA volunteer
- South Dakota Equal Justice Commission, Member
- Family Connection and Family Service, Inc., Former Member of the Board