Darrel L. Peterson (March 8, 1939 – February 3, 1994) was a Minnesota politician and a member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

and the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

Background

Born in

Fairmont, Minnesota Fairmont is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,487 at the 2020 census. History Fairmont was platted in 1857. The city was so named on account of its elevated town site. A post office ...

, Peterson grew up and farmed in the area, graduating from East Chain High School and, later, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, from which he earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. Prior to running for the House and Senate, he had been a member of the Fairmont and the East Chain school boards.

Service in the Minnesota House and Senate

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Peterson was first elected to the House in 1974, representing the old District 27B, and was re-elected in 1976. In 1980, he ran for the Senate, defeating incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Howard Olson. He was re-elected in 1982. He represented the old Senate districts 27 and 29, changing somewhat after the 1982 legislative

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. During his time in the legislature, he served all or portions of Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Faribault,

Freeborn "Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbur ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

, Waseca and Watonwan counties in the southern part of the state.http://venus.library.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail.asp?ID=10525 Peterson was a member of the Commerce and Economic Development, Education, Health and Welfare, Labor-Management Relations, and Taxes committees in the House. Later, in the Senate, he was a member of the Education, Elections and Ethics, Energy and Housing, Judiciary, Public Utilities and State Regulated Industries, Taxes and Tax Laws committees. He also served on the Legislative Commission on Public Education. While in the Senate, Peterson also served on the Education subcommittees for Education Aids, for Educational Operation and Governance and for Post-Secondary and Higher Education, of the Energy and Housing Subcommittee for Research and Alternative Financing, of the Judiciary subcommittees for Criminal Law and for Judicial Administration, of the Public Utilities and State Regulated Industries Subcommittee for Public Utilities, and of the Taxes and Tax Laws subcommittees for Agricultural Property Tax and for Natural Resources Tax. His special legislative concerns included education, agriculture, and job development.

Appointment to Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

In 1986, Governor Rudy Perpich appointed Peterson to be a commissioner on the

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is the consumer protection agency in the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with the regulation of public utilities such as electric and telephone service. Its commissioners are appointed by the govern ...

. He was a member of the commission until 1992, serving as its chair from 1990 to 1992.

References

External links

History of the Mid-America Regulatory Conference: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Darrel 1939 births 1994 deaths People from Fairmont, Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Republican Party Minnesota state senators School board members in Minnesota University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences alumni 20th-century American politicians American United Methodists 20th-century Methodists