Mark Vargo
32nd Attorney General of South Dakota
In office
June 28, 2022 – January 3, 2023
GovernorKristi Noem
Preceded byCharlie McGuigan (acting)
Succeeded byMarty Jackley
Personal details
Born
Mark Alexander Vargo

(1963-07-29) July 29, 1963
Stuttgart, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseBarbara Melber (1988–present)
Children3
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Mark Alexander Vargo[1] (born July 29, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd Attorney General of South Dakota. In June 2022, he was appointed by Governor Kristi Noem to fill the vacancy created by Jason Ravnsborg's impeachment and removal from office. He previously served as the State's Attorney of Pennington County, South Dakota, having left the position in April 2023.[2]

Early life

Vargo was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, while his father was serving in the United States Army.[3] He is the son of college professor Albert James Vargo and nurse Geraldine Jean (Klekotka) Vargo and was raised in West Germany, Michigan, and Kansas.[4][5][6] He is a 1981 graduate of Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School in Wichita.[7]

In 1985, Vargo graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[8] While attending Princeton, he completed a 1983 summer internship in the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Senator Bob Dole.[7] In 1988, he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.[9][10] 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.

Career

After graduating law school, Vargo was an assistant state's attorney for Miami-Dade County, Florida. After moving to South Dakota in 1992, he was an assistant state's attorney for Pennington County, and an assistant United States attorney for South Dakota.[3] In addition, he taught courses as an adjunct professor at National American University and Western Dakota Technical Institute.[3]

Vargo became the Pennington County State's Attorney in 2013. In 2015, he was named South Dakota Prosecutor of the Year.[11]

Vargo was the lead prosecutor in the South Dakota Senate impeachment trial of former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, after Ravnsborg fatally struck a pedestrian while driving.[12]

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem 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.[13] The Republican Party had already nominated former Attorney General Marty Jackley 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.[14] They are the parents of three sons.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Vargo, Mark Alexander (1985). "Catalogue Record, Senior Thesis, Vargo, Mark Alexander". Dataspace.Princeton.edu. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Mudd Manuscript Library. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  2. ↑ Lara Roetzel unanimously appointed Pennington County State's Attorney Rapid City Journal
  3. 1 2 3 Woster, Kevin (May 13, 2012). "Vargo: 'Try Cases You Can Win'". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Obituary, Albert James Vargo, 1936 - 2019". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, KS. August 4, 2019 – via Legacy.com.
  5. ↑ "Betrothals Announced: Miss Geraldine J. Klekotka". The Morning News. Wilmington, DE. July 14, 1961. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Social Happenings: Mrs. Albert J. Vargo". The Morning News. Wilmington, DE. December 5, 1961. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "Photo Caption: Mark Vargo recently completed a summer internship in the Washington office of Senator Bob Dole". The Catholic Advance. Wichita, KS. September 22, 1983. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Noem appoints Mark Vargo as attorney general". Rapid City Journal. Rapid City, SD. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Gov. Noem Appoints Mark Vargo as Attorney General". KNBN NewsCenter1. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  10. ↑ Georgetown University Law Center First Year Students, 1985-1986 (PDF). Washington, DC: Georgetown University. 1985. p. 48.
  11. ↑ Heemstra, Jody. "Noem appoints lead prosecutor in Ravnsborg impeachment to serve as Attorney General until January". DRGNews. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  12. ↑ "South Dakota AG convicted on 2 impeachment charges, removed". AP NEWS. June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Noem taps impeachment prosecutor to replace attorney general". news.yahoo.com. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Wedding Announcement, Vargo-Melber". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, KS. September 29, 1988. p. 22N – via Newspapers.com.
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