Lara Roetzel

Accountability in Action means:

• Advocacy - Advocating for victims in every case, every time
• Accountability - Transparency and positive outcomes
• Integrity - Doing the right thing, even when the right thing is hard

Notable Achievements

• First Female State’s Attorney in Pennington County History
• Unanimously Appointed by County Commission as State’s Attorney in April 2023
• Acting State’s Attorney June 2022-January 2023
• 28 years prosecutorial experience
• Member of National Prosecutors Best Practices Committee
• 2023 Children’s Home Society of South Dakota Partner Protecting Kids Award Recipient
• Statewide Trainer for South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
• 2017 South Dakota State’s Attorneys Association, Prosecutor of the Year
• Pennington County Victim’s Assistance Program, Victim’s Champion Award recipient, 2005
• Pennington County Legal Assistance Project, Pro Bono Attorney of the Year, 2002
• Authored, Lara Roetzel, Tifanie Petro & Erica Ramstad, Beyond the Cages: Sex Trafficking in South Dakota, 64 S.D. L. Rev. 346 (2019).
• South Dakota State’s Attorney Association Board Vice-President 2023- Present
• Presentation - Kelsey Blair, Ryan Gebhard, Tifanie Petro & Lara Roetzel, Tales from the Apparatus: The Teddy Guzman Story, Community Response to Child Abuse Conference (Sioux Falls, SD) (2022).
• Presentation - Lara Roetzel, Engaging with Local Elected Officials to Identify and Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Legal System, Safety & Justice Network Meeting (Atlanta, GA) (2022).
• Presentation – Lara Roetzel, Engaging Victims to Aid in Successful Prosecution, Northeast South Dakota Family Violence Prevention Conference (Aberdeen, SD)(2023).
  

Work Experience

Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office, Rapid City, SD

State’s Attorney

April 2023

Acting State’s Attorney

June 2022 – January 2023

Chief Deputy State’s Attorney

September 2003 – Jan 1, 2007, 2009 – Jan 13, 2023

First female State’s Attorney to serve in Pennington County history. As Criminal Chief Deputy, served as the First Assistant to the elected State’s Attorney. Supervised all Criminal Department attorneys and staff. Prosecuted select high-profile homicide and sexual assault cases, among others.

Notable prosecutions:

State v. Guzman, 2022 SD 70, 982 N.W.2d 875;

State v. Klinetobe, 2021 SD 24, 958 N.W.2d 734;

State v. Rolfe, 2014 SD 47, 851 N.W.2d 897;

State v. Rolfe, 2013 SD 2, 825 N.W.2d 901;

State v. Goulding, 2011 SD 25, 799 N.W.2d 412;

State v. Anders, 2009 SD 15, 763 N.W.2d 547;

State v. Muhm, 2009 SD 100, 775 N.W.2d 508;

State v. Tiegen, 2008 SD 6, 744 N.W.2d 578;

State v. Wright, 2008 SD 118, 759 N.W.2d 275;

State v. Pugh, 2002 SD 16, 640 N.W.2d 79;

State v. Perovich, 2001 SD 96, 632 N.W.2d 12.

Deputy State’s Attorney

January 1997 – January 2001, January 2007 – 2009

Prosecuted hundreds of felony level offenses, including 21 felony jury trials with eighteen guilty verdicts. Occasionally prosecuted Abuse and Neglect cases.

South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, South Dakota

Attorney Consultant and Senior Advisor

January 16, 2023 – April 20, 2023

Attorney on statewide project funded through the Office on Violence Against Women Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Grant. This grant is designed to strengthen legal advocacy service programs for survivors through training and technical assistance, increase access to justice, create comprehensive survivor-centered and culturally relevant standards for victim service providers and provide training and technical assistance to sexual assault nurse examiners in the state.

South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, South Dakota

Trainer, Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Response

2014 – present

Provide training for law enforcement and prosecutors state-wide on responding to domestic violence and sexual assault cases. Trainings are done utilizing a team approach.

Watson, Roetzel and McGowan, L.L.P.,

Rapid City, SD

Partner

January 2001 – September 2003

Practiced family law. Helped with coordinating and monitoring management of the office.

Black Hills Legal Services,

Rapid City, SD

Staff Attorney

September 1996 – January 1997

Served indigent clients in the Black Hills area through legal representation in civil matters.

Admissions

State of South Dakota Bar, September 1996

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Oct 2001

Education

Creighton University School of Law, Omaha, NE

Juris Doctorate, May 1996

University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology, May 1993