U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson will step down from his post overseeing the jurisdiction of the South Dakota District. The announcement came on Wednesday at a press conference.

The resignation will be effective as of March 11, 2015 after spending five and a half years in the position. Johnson says he is proud of his accomplishments, but feels now is the time to step down.

Taking Johnson’s place will be Randy Seiler who is currently the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. Seiler will eventually need confirmation by the Senate before taking on the top spot.

Johnson is confident that Seiler will be able to slide one chair over and take responsibility for the office. “There is no better person to fill this role.”

One subject that Johnson strongly emphasized was to combat human trafficking in South Dakota. The raw numbers show the success Johnson’s office attained under his leadership.

“When I became U.S. Attorney, in the history of South Dakota we never had a Federal case of commercial sex trafficking,” Johnson said. “Since 2009, we’ve prosecuted more men who have received life sentences in Federal court than any other District in the United States.”

Next up for Johnson will be a return to private practice. He will establish a South Dakota office for Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan that will operate in Sioux Falls.

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