By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – Crystal Johnson was sworn in as Minnehaha County State’s Attorney by Second Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Robin Houwman to begin the Tuesday, Jan. 28, meeting of the county commission.
Johnson was first named interim state’s attorney by Houwman on Dec. 6, after the resignation of the previously elected Aaron McGowan.
That title was made official by a vote of the Minnehaha County Commission on Jan. 21.
In her remarks after the swearing in, Johnson told commissioners she believed most attorneys eventually want to become judges, but in her case, after becoming a magistrate judge in 2015, she was glad to get back to her “passion” of being a prosecutor.
She had previously served in the Minnehaha County State’s Attorney’s office since 2005.
“I wasn’t on the bench very long before I realized that was not where my passion was,” Johnson said. “My passion was being a prosecutor, and as a prosecutor, I get to be an advocate for children who have the worst things happen to them.
“I get to be an advocate for women who have been beaten and raped.
“I get to be an advocate for family members who have lost loved ones in violent crimes.
“So, when I came back to the state’s attorney’s office, I felt like I was coming home.
“I enjoy getting to wear the hat of justice when going into court. I enjoy representing my neighbors and community.”
Johnson will fill this position until a new state’s attorney is elected in November. And possibly longer should she run and win that election.
But in the major business of the week, commissioners heard a projection on spring flooding from county Emergency Management Director Jason Gearman.
He was optimistic that while the current soil moisture is as high as it’s ever been at this time of year, the snowpack in the region and to the north, as well, is lower than usual.
Gearman cited above-average daytime temperatures and freezing conditions at night as facilitating a more gradual melting.
If this continues, he said, the outlook is good; however, if there are “colder temperatures and a bunch of snow, we are going to have some concerns.”
He did foresee more flooding along the Big Sioux River in the Dell Rapids area, “even with normal spring precipitation.”
With that in mind, emergency management is planning ahead for sandbags.
Gearman also said his office has a call out to find a warehouse to store those bags until they are needed.
Dave Johnson from the Glory House briefed the board on improvements to their “halfway house” facility.
He had previously reported of the expansion being done there and said that as of now, they just opened the first building of their Glory House apartments with the first tenant moving in on Dec. 23, 2019.
In the past month, another nine tenants have moved in, and 15 more are in the process of making the transition from prison to the new facility.
Johnson added that the Glory House was at the halfway point of raising $1.35 million in its capital campaign.
The facility is operated with 51 employees and an annual budget of $3 million.
The Minnehaha Commission has its regular meetings each Tuesday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
These meetings are open to all, and public comment is always encouraged.
