Ronald A. Parsons Jr. is an American attorney who served as the

United States attorney for the District of South Dakota The United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota is responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. By statute, the U.S. attorney is responsible for prosecuting ...

from 2018 to 2021. In 2025, he was nominated to the position to serve a second term.

Early life and education

Parsons Jr. graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1994 and then a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

with '' Sterling honors'' from the

University of South Dakota School of Law The University of South Dakota School of Law also known as University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law or USD Law in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, is a professional school of the University of South Dakota and the only law school ...

in 1997.

Legal career

Following law school, Parsons worked as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Roger Leland Wollman Roger Leland Wollman (born May 29, 1934) is a senior United States Circuit Judge and former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is the older brother of Harvey Wollman, former Governor of South Dakota. E ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...

. He then went into private practice at Johnson, Janklow, Abdallah, Reiter and Parsons, LLP in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

. After serving his first term as U.S. attorney, Parsons went to work for Sioux Falls law firm Johnson Abdallah Janklow & Reiter LLP.

United States attorney

First term

He was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

on July 27, 2017, to be the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of South Dakota. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on December 20, 2017. He was sworn into office on January 5, 2018. On February 8, 2021, he along with 55 other Trump-era attorneys were asked to resign. He submitted his resignation on February 22, effective February 26.

Second term

On April 1, 2025, Parsons was again nominated to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota. His nomination is pending before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

References

External links

Meet the U.S. Attorney
Living people University of Minnesota alumni University of South Dakota School of Law alumni 21st-century American lawyers South Dakota lawyers United States attorneys for the District of South Dakota 1967 births {{SouthDakota-politician-stub