Governor Kristi Noem has named two Rapid City attorneys to serve as judges on the state's Seventh Circuit Court, which encompasses Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota and Pennington counties.

Scott Roetzel and Eric Kelderman will replace retiring Judges Craig Pfeifle and his wife, Judge Jane Wipf Pfeifle, following their retirement this June. Current Judge Robert Gusinsky was selected to replace Pfeifle as the Presiding Judge for the Seventh Circuit.

Scott Roetzel has prosecuted all levels of criminal offenses, including homicide and sexual assault, over his decades-long career.

Roetzel graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1989 and their School of Law in 1992. He worked for the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office in Rapid City and became the Chief Deputy in 1996. Roetzel then joined the law firm of Johnson Eiesland in 2002, where he practiced medical malpractice and insurance defense. He went on to become an Assistant United States’ Attorney focusing on federal tort claims before going back to the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office as Senior Litigation Counsel. He was recognized as the 2014 South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year, and in 2017, Roetzel joined the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office as the Supervisor of the Rapid City office.

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“I am humbled and honored by the responsibility Governor Noem has placed in me,” Roetzel said. “My dad said if you work hard and treat people right, good things will happen. This appointment is proof of that. I will strive every day to uphold the trust and values the citizens of the Seventh Judicial Circuit deserve.”

Roetzel is married to Pennington County State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel. They have five children: Cale, Berkley, Bennett, Walker and Everley.

State's Attorney Lara Roetzel declined to comment on how any potential conflicts of interest would be managed given her husband's appointment.

Eric Kelderman is an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota working in the Rapid City office.

He is a member of the office’s Appellate Division and handles appeals of convictions and other matters before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Kelderman completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Sioux Falls and a master’s degree at the University of South Dakota. He received his law degree from Creighton University. Kelderman was part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division, was a member of a trial team that received the Department of Justice Attorney General’s Award, and served over 16 years as the U.S. Attorney’s Office Ethics and Responsibility Officer.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kelderman was a judicial law clerk to three federal judges in South Dakota and Nebraska.

“I am grateful to Governor Noem for this appointment to the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court bench,” Kelderman said. “I look forward to serving the citizens of South Dakota as I seek to uphold law and justice in this position.”

Kelderman has been married to his wife, Renae, for more than 25 years, and together they have two children, Kaden and Kyra.

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