Law Alumnus Dylan Kirchmeier Named South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year
Kirchmeier received the award in May during the association’s annual meeting in Deadwood, South Dakota. The Prosecutor of the Year award was established in 2002 and is given annually to an outstanding South Dakota prosecutor.
“It helps vindicate the work that I put in,” Kirchmeier said of the award. “Being a state’s attorney in a very busy county is a taxing job, especially since I am the only attorney in my office prosecuting between 650 and 1000 class 1 misdemeanor and felony cases in any given year. Being an elected official has its challenges, one of which being that you’re rarely going to receive recognition or thanks for the job that you do. Being recognized by individuals who do the same job I do for what I do was very uplifting and reinvigorating to continue doing what I do.”
Kirchmeier has worked in Roberts County – a geographically large county in northern South Dakota of around 10,000 people – since he entered the Rural Attorney Recruitment Program in August 2020. After six months, he was elected as the state’s attorney and has held the position since.
During his time in law school, Kirchmeier served on the Student Bar Association for two years. He was also a part of the First-Generation Law Student Association, the Law School Democrats, the American Constitution Society and the legal fraternity Delta Theta Phi. He spent his law school summers completing legal internships, first with the State Court Administrators Office of the Unified Judicial System in Pierre, South Dakota, then with Delaney, Nielsen, and Sannes, PC.
We asked the 2024 Prosecutor of the Year about his work and his time at the state’s only law school, and this is what he had to say.
What are you most proud of in your work?
The ability to obtain justice, whatever that may look like, for those who are victims of crimes in my community. And less importantly, but still important, the recognition from my peers this past spring at the state’s attorney’s conference for the work that I have done in my relatively short career thus far.
Why South Dakota? What makes here so special?
It’s home. Growing up in the glacial lakes region of northeast South Dakota, I grew up spending a lot of my time outdoors and thoroughly enjoy those activities to this day. The pace of life is slower, which I appreciate. I wanted to return to that kind of area and stay in the state I was raised in.
What advice would you give current students interested in pursuing a career as a prosecutor?
Be prepared to encounter situations that are stranger than fiction. Be ready to put in long hours when the case requires it. Do your best to not become personally invested in the cases.
How did your time at USD prepare you for the work you do today?
The knowledge taught to me by all of my professors during my seven years at USD helped shape the person I am today and gave me a good bedrock to begin my adult life. Specifically for the law school, I believe it helped immensely having so many professors who were practicing attorneys prior to becoming professors. So not only were they able to give us the academic teaching that we were there for, but they could also give us some tips on what to do/what not to do as it related to the actual practice of law.
Why did you choose USD?
I wanted to be an attorney since middle school. USD is the only law school in the state. Knowing that I wanted to stay in South Dakota after my education was finished, it just made sense to do the entirety of my post-secondary education at USD. Additionally, the town of Vermillion was appealing to me. Even though it is large due to the university being there, it still very much has a small-town feel.
What is your favorite memory from your time at USD?
Perhaps it's nostalgia due to his passing but my favorite memory was working with Professor Thomas Horton on a legal article that was published in a legal journal during my third year of law school. Professor Horton was one of those people whose passion for what he did was exhibited very obviously, and he cared about the success of his students very deeply.
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