Mark Barnett (born September 4, 1954) is an American attorney; the 28th

attorney general of South Dakota The Attorney General of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an Executive (government), executive position as the state's chief l ...

between 1991 and 2003 and a circuit court judge between 2007 and 2019.

Legal career

Barnett, a Republican, graduated from the

University of South Dakota School of Law The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school in ...

Electoral history

1990 attorney general election

Barnett won the general election by defeating Michael Butler. He won with 150,109 (59.49%) votes while Butler received 102,231 votes (40.51%).

1994 attorney general election

Barnett was re-elected by defeating Democrat Randy Turner and Libertarian Bert Olson. Barnett received 192,147 (62.33%) votes; Randy received 106,709 (34.62%) votes and Bert received 9,410 (3.05%) votes.

1998 attorney general election

Barnett was elected for a third term as attorney general. He was unopposed for the first time in the history of attorney general elections in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. As of October, 2019, Barnett is the longest-serving attorney general in South Dakota history, with 12 years of service.

Supreme Court litigation

Barnett argued two cases before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

as attorney general, winning both cases.

''South Dakota v. Bourland, 508 U.S. 679 (1993)''

Barnett argued on behalf of the state, winning a 7–2 decision that the federal Flood Control and Cheyenne River Acts had abrogated the tribe's right, guaranteed under the Fort Laramie Treaty, to regulate hunting and fishing on their lands by non-Indians.

''South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe, 522 U.S. 329 (1998)''

Barnett argued that an 1894 federal statute, ratifying an agreement pursuant to the Dawes Act, had diminished the boundaries of the Yankton Sioux Reservation, as they had been established in an 1858 treaty. The Court ruled unanimously for the state.

2002 gubernatorial election

Barnett ran for governor, but finished second in a divisive three-way primary for the 2002 Republican nomination.

Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...

won the nomination with 49,331 (44.34%) votes; Barnett received 32,868 (29.54%) votes and former lieutenant governor

Steve T. Kirby Steven Thomas Kirby (born March 26, 1952) was the 35th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota. He is a member of local, state, and national boards of directors. Early life and education Kirby graduated with a bachelor of science degree in politi ...

received 29,065 (26.12%).

State judicial service

In 2007, Barnett was appointed as a circuit court judge by Governor

. In 2014, he was reelected in an uncontested election. Barnett retired from the bench on March 22, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Mark (politician) 1954 births Living people South Dakota state court judges South Dakota Attorneys General South Dakota Republicans University of South Dakota School of Law alumni Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians