Former South Dakota Attorney General Meierhenry dies

Mark Meierhenry, a former South Dakota attorney general and the patriarch of an influential legal family, died early Wednesday. He was 75.

Meierhenry was a 1970 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law. He went on to serve two terms as attorney general from 1979 to 1987, a timeframe that overlapped the first two terms of Gov. Bill Janklow’s tenure in office, who had preceded Meierhenry as attorney general. During his eight years, Meierhenry argued six times before the U.S. Supreme Court, compiling a 3-3 record, according to SoDak Governors, a website that chronicles South Dakota's political history.

Meierhenry would later call Janklow one of his heroes.

Born in Gregory, South Dakota on Oct. 29, 1944, Meierhenry thrived on reading books and newspapers, he said in a 2014 interview with the Argus Leader. The ability to tell a story, he said, helped him as a trial lawyer arguing in front of judges and juries.

“Newspapers and reading opened my life,” Meierhenry said. “It made me curious about the world and especially South Dakota. I still read three newspapers every day and especially appreciate local news because it is so unifying.”

As a boy, he wanted to grow up to be a basketball coach, but instead went into law.

In 1978, he ran as the Republican nominee against Democrat Max Gors, winning 56% of the vote. He won re-election by a similar margin in 1982 against Rod Lefhoo 

As attorney general, Meierhenry never sought the death penalty. Although he opposed capital punishment, he didn’t speak out against it until after his time as AG.

“The death penalty really is the extension of politics,” he told the Argus Leader in 2001. “The death penalty has little to do with keeping crime down. It’s political.”

Following his time as attorney general, he built a successful law practice, frequently arguing in the South Dakota Supreme Court. He was known as a talented trial lawyer who was not afraid to represent clients in suits against local governments, particularly in land-use disputes. In 2006, he won a South Dakota Supreme Court ruling that required the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System to keep water lines 250 feet away from the homes of some residents.

Meierhenry was followed into law by his son, Todd, and daughter-in-law, Sabrina. Their daughter, Mae, also graduated from USD Law and currently practices with her father at Meierhenry Sargent in Sioux Falls.

But his career in law was somewhat overshadowed by the career of his wife, Judith. She switched careers as a teacher to go to law school at USD. In 1988 she was appointed a circuit court judge, and in 2002, Janklow appointed her as the first female justice on the South Dakota Supreme Court, a position she held until retiring in 2011.

Besides practicing law, Meierhenry also wrote children’s books with co-author David Volk, a friend and former South Dakota treasurer, starting in 2007. Titles included “The Mystery of Round Rocks,” The Mystery of Tree Rings,” “The Mystery of the Maize” and “The Mystery of the Pheasants.”

Mark and Judith Meierhenry also had a daughter, Dr. Mary Meierhenry.

A public visitation with the family will be from 4:00-7:00 pm Tuesday, Aug. 4th at Miller Funeral Home, Southside Chapel.