BROOKINGS If youre looking for Judge Gregory J. Stoltenburg nowadays, well, youre not going to find him warming the bench in a courtroom. Nope. Recently retired, hes putting golf balls and casting fishing lines about as far from banging a gavel as you can get.
A Clear Lake native, the presiding judge of South Dakotas Third Judicial Circuit retired on June 8. On June 6, he enjoyed a party marking the occasion at the Brookings County Courthouse.
Stoltenburg, 60, took his profession seriously and respected the people he worked with, so much so that, less than a month into retirement, hes already missing aspects of it.
Im definitely missing my colleagues, the people I work with, he told the Brookings Register. And because the people in the Unified Judicial System are phenomenal, I really do miss interacting with them on a daily basis.
That said, there are also things Stoltenburg doesnt mind missing out on.
What I dont miss is having to try to solve other peoples problems, he said. Its nice to focus on my own issues (and) not anyone elses.
Can you really blame the guy? After all, being a judge is one of the most serious jobs a person can have and Stoltenburg was one since being appointed in 2013 to the Third Circuit, and presiding over it since 2015.
Judges have a lot of power, a fact not lost on him while recounting some of the cases hes handled over the years.
There was a lot of, Ill just say, child custody cases, child termination of parental rights, Stoltenburg said. Anytime you had any case that affected a child seemed pretty profound to me. Those are the ones that really stick with you as you go through things is just how your decisions affected those children for the rest of their lives, oftentimes.
You really hope you made the right decision on those, he finished.
It wasnt just child-related cases, either, that Stoltenburg remembered. Others were felony sentencing cases.
Youre taking away peoples freedom, he said. That weighs on you.
Public service
Stoltenburg had his reasons for becoming a judge and, before that, serving as Deuel Countys states attorney and spending 33 years in the South Dakota Army National Guard.
I think my desire to be in public service as well as to be able to find a profession that you could settle down, grow some roots and raise a family, he said.
He said he took some business law courses in college and, when he got out of undergraduate, he did a little work as a bank loan officer and also held a job at an insurance company.
I just wanted to do something different than those things, Stoltenburg said. Growing up on a farm in a rural community, I just felt as though being a lawyer in a small town start that way and start a family and see where it goes from there.
Going from the farm near Clear Lake to South Dakota State University in Brookings, he graduated with a double major in commercial economics and agricultural business. He met his future wife, Lynn, while they were both at SDSU.
They were married in 1987, shortly after he graduated from SDSU. Lynn finished her degree at the University of North Dakota, where they were for five years. After that, they came back to South Dakota to go the law school at the University of South Dakota.
Both of us wanted to get to a small community and get our family started, and it just so happened I ended up there was an opening in my hometown for a lawyer, the local law firm was hiring, and was fortunate enough to get hired by them, Stoltenburg explained. We just dug our roots in and weve been here ever since.
Beyond his lawyering years in Clear Lake, he also served as Deuel Countys deputy states attorney from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2012 he was the states attorney for Deuel County.
After that, he was named a judge in the Third Circuit, which covers 14 counties. Those counties include Brookings, Kingsbury, Moody, Hamlin and Deuel.
Stoltenburg primarily focused on three counties Brookings, Kingsbury and Miner but also handled Moody County for a time and traveled throughout the circuit to handle cases.
Yup. I put on a few miles over the years, he said.
Is the law for you?
For those young folks that might be considering their career options or even people seeking a career change mid-stream Stoltenburg pointed out that the legal profession has a lot of promise.
The law will offer you many opportunities in many different fields, Stoltenburg said. It helps you analytically figure out problems, and you can use that in your daily life as well as your professional life.
He continued, Once you do get into it used your law degree Id encourage them, at least for a period of time, to get into public service and really help the people that need help.
Stoltenburg doesnt just talk the talk, either. He walks with walk as well, with 33 years in the South Dakota Army National Guard being a big part of that.
I was out for a couple of years in there, but pretty steady from 1981 to 2017, he said, adding that he was deployed during Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91. I was a pretty young buck back then.
During later conflicts, including the Iraq War that started in 2003, he wasnt deployed, but worked as a lawyer and as a Judge Advocate General officer with the SDANG, assisting troops who were being deployed.
He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2017.
More than a judge
While public service was a big part of Stoltenburgs life from soldiering to lawyering to states attorney to judgeship his interests extend beyond the bench to things like golfing, fishing both ice and open water and spending time with his family, including his children and grandchildren. Altogether, his wife and him have five children and three grandchildren.
To say its been a grand adventure for him and his wife these last 37 years would be an understatement. And, come September, itll be 38 years of marriage.
It goes by really fast, he said.
Hes a big pizza fan, too, and especially enjoys dining at Pizza Ranch. Absolutely, except I eat too much, he said, laughing.
In closing, though, and in reflecting on his years as a judge, Stoltenburg shared a heartfelt consideration.
I enjoyed the opportunity to do my best in trying to administer justice in a fair, even-handed manner, he said. Although I wasnt right all the time, I tried my best.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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