Bill Janklow

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Bill Janklow
30th Governor of South Dakota
In office 1995 – 2003
Preceded by	Walter Dale Miller
Succeeded by	Mike Rounds
27th Governor of South Dakota
In office 1979 – 1987
Preceded by	Harvey L. Wollman
Succeeded by	George S. Mickelson
United States Representative from South Dakota's At-large district
In office 2003 – 2004 (resigned)
Preceded by	John Thune
Succeeded by	Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
Born	September 13, 1939 (age 67) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Republican

William John "Bill" Janklow (born September 13, 1939) is an American politician with the Republican Party. He was a four-term Governor of South Dakota, and briefly a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Manslaughter conviction 3 References 4 External Links

[edit] Biography

Bill Janklow was born in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1964 and received a law degree in 1966. After graduation from law school he was a Legal Services lawyer for six years on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Janklow served as South Dakota's attorney general from 1975-1979. He was first elected governor in 1978, and he was easily reelected in 1982 with 70.9% of the vote, the highest percentage ever won by a gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. The legislature had repealed the personal property tax the year before he took office, but did not provide a replacement revenue source. Since the personal property tax funded local governments, the legislature mandated that the state government replace the revenue. His first duty as governor was to suggest tax increases to meet that obligation. One of his first acts as Governor was signing into law a bill reinstating capital punishment (in 1979). Another major action in his administration was seeing South Dakota's cap on interest rates dropped. This allowed Citibank to open a credit card center in Sioux Falls from which it could charge high rates.^[1] Janklow made serious attempts to increase accessibility for the disabled. When the Milwaukee Railroad went into bankruptcy, Janklow called a special session of the legislature. The state purchased the main line of the defunct railroad. The state leased its property to the Burlington Northern thereby preserving railway shipping of commodites for much of the state.

Barred by state law from running again in 1986, Janklow challenged incumbent U.S. Senator James Abdnor in the Republican primary. Janklow lost, but the bruising primary battle weakened Abdnor, contributing to the latter's loss in the general election to Democrat Thomas Daschle, then South Dakota's lone member of the U. S. House of Representatives. Janklow returned to politics in 1994, when he defeated incumbent Walter Dale Miller in the Republican gubernatorial primary. He was handily elected that year and was reelected in 1998. In his second two terms, Janklow cut property taxes for homeowners and farmers by 30% and made up the revenue loss caused by the voters repealing the inheritance tax.^[2]. Janklow is the longest serving governor in South Dakota history; he is the only person in the state's history to serve eight full years as governor, which he did twice.

In 2002, Janklow ran for the Republican nomination for South Dakota's only House seat. He defeated Democrat Stephanie Herseth, an attorney and granddaughter of former governor Ralph Herseth and his wife, former state Secretary of State, Lorna Herseth, by a vote of 180,023 to 153,656 ^[3].

When Janklow resigned his House seat, a special election was held and Herseth won the position against Republican candidate Larry Diedrich.

Although controversial, Janklow is among the more successful politicians in South Dakota's history. He was elected to statewide office six times.

[edit] Manslaughter conviction

On August 16, 2003, Janklow, while driving his personal automobile, hit and killed motorcyclist Randolph E. Scott at a rural intersection near Trent, South Dakota.

On December 8, 2003, Janklow was convicted by a Moody County jury of second-degree manslaughter. He resigned his seat in Congress effective January 20, 2004, and two days later, the judge ordered a suspended imposition of sentence, with three years supervised probation. In South Dakota when an order suspending imposition of sentence is entered, there is no conviction. The court withholds the entry of a judgment of conviction on condition that the defendant satisfies certain conditions. If the defendant satisfies those conditions, the criminal case is concluded because the judge enters an order of dismissal and discharge. Under these circumstances, the defendant has not been convicted of a felony.^[4]

Janklow's driving privileges were suspended during the probation. He was ordered to serve 100 days in the county jail as a condition of probation.^[5] He was released on May 17, 2004. On January 5, 2006, the South Dakota Supreme Court granted Janklow's petition for early reinstatement of his license to practice law, effective February, 2006. On January 22, 2007, Janklow successfully completed his probation and his driving privileges were restored.^[6]

Janklow currently works as a lawyer and lobbyist. In 2006, the Mayo Clinic retained Janklow to fight the DM&E Railroad expansion.

[edit] References

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

1. ^ Lazarony, Lucy. Credit card companies sidestep usury laws. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
2. ^ Michael Barone, The Almanac of American Politics, (2006), p. 1520
3. ^ Michael Barone, p. 1530
4. ^ South Dakota Attorney General, OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 05-01
5. ^ http://www.argusleader.com/specialsections/2003/janklowtrial/01232004.shtml
6. ^ http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/stories/ny-usjank225062622jan22,0,2504311.story

[edit] External Links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Bill Janklow at the Notable Names Database

Preceded by Harvey L. Wollman	Governor of South Dakota 1979–1987	Succeeded by George S. Mickelson
Preceded by Walter Dale Miller	Governor of South Dakota 1995–2003	Succeeded by Mike Rounds
Preceded by John R. Thune	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's At-large congressional district 2003–January 20, 2004	Succeeded by Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

Governors of South Dakota
Mellette • Sheldon • Lee • Herreid • Elrod • Crawford • Vessey • Byrne • Norbeck • McMaster • Gunderson • Bulow • Green • Berry • Jensen • Bushfield • Sharpe • G.T. Mickelson • Anderson • Foss • Herseth • Gubbrud • Boe • Farrar • Kneip • Wollman • Janklow • G.S. Mickelson • Miller • Janklow • Rounds

Persondata
NAME	Janklow, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Janklow, William John (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	South Dakota politician
DATE OF BIRTH	September 13, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH