Mark Alexander Vargo (born July 29, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd

Attorney General of South Dakota Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gov ...

. In June 2022, he was appointed by Governor

Kristi Noem Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem ( ; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 8th United States secretary of homeland security since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2019 to 2025 as the 33rd ...

to fill the vacancy created by

Jason Ravnsborg Jason Richard Ravnsborg (born April 12, 1976) is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the Rep ...

's impeachment and removal from office. He previously served as the

State's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Pennington County, South Dakota Pennington County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 109,222, making it the List of counties in South Dakota, second most populous county i ...

, having left the position in April 2023.

Early life

Vargo was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, while his father was serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He is the son of college professor Albert James Vargo and nurse Geraldine Jean (Klekotka) Vargo and was raised in West Germany,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. He is a 1981 graduate of

Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, sometimes called Kapaun, is a private, four year, co-educational, secondary school operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita. It is located on the east side of Wichita, Kansas. The school colors a ...

Wichita Wichita ( ) may refer to: People *Wichita people, a Native American tribe *Wichita language, the language of the tribe Places in the United States * Wichita, Kansas, a city located in Sedgwick County * Wichita County, Kansas, a county in wester ...

. In 1985, Vargo graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

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 ...

degree. While attending Princeton, he completed a 1983 summer internship in the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Senator

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

. In 1988, he graduated from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

with 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 ...

degree. Except for Charles McGuigan, who acted as attorney general for two months in 2022, Vargo is the first South Dakota Attorney General since 1959 who did not attend 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 ...

Career

After graduating law school, Vargo was an assistant state's attorney for

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...

. After moving to South Dakota in 1992, he was an assistant state's attorney for Pennington County, and an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for South Dakota. In addition, he taught courses as an adjunct professor at

National American University National American University (NAU) is a private for-profit online university. It is owned by National American University Holdings, Inc. (NAUH). In 2018, NAU acquired the assets of Henley-Putnam University and now offers strategic security pr ...

and Western Dakota Technical Institute. Vargo became the Pennington County

in 2013. In 2015, he was named South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year. Vargo was the lead prosecutor in the

South Dakota Senate The South Dakota Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district. It meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''99th Legislature (2025)' ...

impeachment trial of former Attorney General

, after Ravnsborg fatally struck a pedestrian while driving.

South Dakota Governor The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Larry Rhoden, a member of the Republican Party ...

appointed Vargo as the state's 32nd Attorney General on June 28, 2022, filling the vacancy left due to Ravnsborg's conviction. Vargo stated that he planned to serve only the remaining months of Ravnsborg's before returning to his position as the State's Attorney for Pennington County. The Republican Party had already nominated former Attorney General

Marty Jackley Martin J. Jackley (born October 13, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who is serving as the Attorney General of South Dakota since 2023, having previously served from 2009 to 2019. He assumed office as Attorney General again in 2023 a ...

for the 2022 South Dakota Attorney General election, and Vargo pledged to support Jackley's campaign.

Family

In September 1988, Vargo married Barbara Melber of St. Lawrence, South Dakota. They are the parents of three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargo, Mark 1963 births 21st-century American lawyers District attorneys in South Dakota Georgetown University Law Center alumni Living people People from Pennington County, South Dakota Princeton University alumni South Dakota attorneys general