Seward to leave State's Attorney Office, brings political activist with him to new job

The Rapid City Journal is reporting today that Butte County States Attorney Jim Seward is going to be leaving the State's Attorney office in favor of a law practice he's purchasing. And interestingly enough, his new law partner is a name that's been out of politics for a while, but might soon re-emerge:
Seward said Tuesday that he had wanted to serve as a part-time state's attorney while pursuing other interests in private practice, but Butte County policy requires the state's attorney to be a full-time position.

Seward said he has an opportunity to buy the law firm of Harlan Schmidt in Spearfish. Schmidt is retiring, and Seward and his partner Scott Odenbach plan to open a new law firm at Schmidt's location on North Main Street in Spearfish.

Odenbach, a Lemmon native, will concentrate on business and labor law, and Seward will handle trial work.
Read it all here. If you're not familiar with Scott Odenbach, he's a former Executive Director of the Minnehaha County Republican Party, and had also worked on the Kirby Gubernatorial campaign in 2002. Scott had been a respected young conservative who had dropped out of the South Dakota Republican political scene because of professional pursuits.

I know where he's coming from. Politics are fun, but you need to be able to feed your family.

With the announcement of a law partnership with Jim Seward who is often mentioned for higher office in spite of his denials of interest (c'mon Jim, you know we want you to do it), Scott may quickly find himself tapped for his expertise in Republican politics.

Congratulations to both of you, and good luck in your new law practice.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Looks like Seward is making his next step to run for something. I'd bet on Attorney General in 4 years, but he'll have a tough time against Marty Jackley. The real question though is... does Scott Odenbach run back to Florida again after losing another campaign?
Anonymous said…
Run? He went to Fla where he had a job offer, so he could feed his family. Don't comment on things you know nothing about.
Anonymous said…
If Seward was going to run for something, I don't think he'd be resigning before he crossed the half-way mark of his term. You don't leave duties unfullfilled as a prosecutor to run for a higher prosecutorial office.
Anonymous said…
I thought Barnett was going to run for AG when Long's term was up.
Anonymous said…
I think Barnett has used up all his political capital when he threw away the Governor's race to the incompetant.
Anonymous said…
Everybody knows Barnett is waiting for his seat on the Supreme Court to come open. Justice Sabers of SF will retire in 2008 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age (state judges only) of 70.
Anonymous said…
I thought by the Lance Russell would be qualified and ready to hold that spot. If I read Mt. Blogmore right, he's the man for the job.
Anonymous said…
Barnett replacing Sabers would make a heck of a positive difference on the Court. In evaulating Sabers' opinions, it appears to me that the 70 retirement age is too late to keep his senility from taking over and making his decisions patently illogical.
Anonymous said…
I don't think any of us need to be criticizing judges... seems to me that's exactly what the whackos at Jail 4 Judges want everyone to do. Sabers has been a good Justice and a great public servant for many years... let's not forget that.
Anonymous said…
If judges make ignorant decisions, they should be criticized just like anyone who doesn't do a good job in their employment. He certainly has not been stellar or even close. Jail for Judges is crazy, but we have a few screwballs on the bench and they put their pants on the same way each of us do. This guy makes poor decisions and if he doesn't like to be questioned, he should clean up his act, not whine like a baby when questioned.

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