The reflection of Wayne Edmonds Jr. is seen as he prepares to testify before the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles on March 15, 2023, at the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
The newest member of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles is a prosecutor, former defense attorney and co-founder of a halfway house in Huron.
Aaron Pilcher, whose law practice is in Huron, serves as the state’s attorney for neighboring Sanborn County. He was chosen to serve on the parole board by Gov. Larry Rhoden. He replaced Ken Albers, who had been the longest-serving member of the current board when he announced his retirement late last year.
The governor, attorney general and state Supreme Court each choose three parole board members, and each appointing office must choose at least one lawyer.
The South Dakota Senate approves parole board appointments, and voted to approve Pilcher this week in Pierre.
On Monday, the same day it approved Pilcher, the state Senate also voted to support the reappointment of Faulk County Sheriff Kurt Hall to the board. Hall was re-appointed by Attorney General Marty Jackley.
Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, said Pilcher’s experience on both sides of the criminal justice system makes him uniquely qualified to make decisions on parole and recommendations on clemency. She also pointed to his role as a longtime supporter of Beadle County’s drug court program, and his role as a co-founder of Hope House, a sober living home that opened in Huron in 2022.
“He understands rehabilitation, but he also understands justice,” Grove said.
The parole board’s nine members can grant early release to inmates, and serve as a screening panel for pardons and commutations. Pardons clear an old crime or crimes from a person’s public record; commutations reduce the sentence of current inmates.
The board can recommend clemency in either of those situations, but under the state constitution only the governor can grant it.
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