{"id":17184,"date":"2021-01-27T17:47:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T23:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=17184"},"modified":"2021-01-27T17:47:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T23:47:38","slug":"retiring-dakota-co-attorney-jim-backstrom-78-encourages-public-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2021\/01\/27\/retiring-dakota-co-attorney-jim-backstrom-78-encourages-public-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Retiring Dakota Co. Attorney Jim Backstrom \u201878 encourages public service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom<\/p><\/div>\n

Every time James Backstrom \u201878 signs his name, he makes sure to include his middle initial so he can remember his father. Clifford Backstrom was a firefighter for more than three decades and passed a duty to serve the public to his son.<\/p>\n

In February, the son of Clifford Backstrom will retire just after his 68th<\/sup> birthday after more than three decades as county attorney in Dakota County, Minn., the longest-serving occupant of that post. He\u2019ll step down before the end of his elected term because of health problems \u2013 namely, several years of chronic lung infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel somewhat limited,\u201d Backstrom said,<\/span> in an interview. \u201cThis is an important job that demands someone who is in better health than I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In leaving, Backstrom has a pitch for current and future law students: Work in the public sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour ability to have an impact on people\u2019s lives will never be greater in any career of law you could choose,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have a real chance to make a positive difference in people\u2019s lives – whether as a prosecutor, public defender, or any number of jobs helping make sure people are treated fairly in this society.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you won\u2019t regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Backstrom started at William Mitchell when it was a night school with a four-year J.D. program for part-time students, located near the University of St. Thomas campus. He was also among the first students to attend classes on what became the present-day campus.<\/p>\n

During his third year, he was hired as a law clerk in the Dakota County Attorney\u2019s office \u2013 then hired the following year as an assistant county attorney by John Sonsteng. Sonsteng was county attorney at the time but would soon leave to become a professor at William Mitchell, then Mitchell Hamline (where he still teaches).<\/p>\n

Backstrom was appointed county attorney in 1987 to fill a vacancy, then went on to win election to the post eight times. \u201cI would never have become County Attorney without John [Sonsteng] taking a chance on hiring a young, inexperience, but energetic attorney,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Backstrom points to several highlights and accomplishments during his tenure \u2013 from a White House meeting with President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno in the 1990s about juvenile crime to creating several diversion programs for low-level offenders to keep them out of jail or juvenile detention. There were also the drug treatment courts he helped create for those with chemical addictions who had committed crimes. \u201cYou need support in those times and that\u2019s what we do with treatment courts,\u201d Backstrom said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to give them an opportunity to address the underlying disease of addiction, instead of being locked up for several years, which helps no one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

James Backstrom speaks to reporters after arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6, 1998. (photo from William Mitchell Law Winter 1998-99 magazine)<\/p><\/div>\n

For Backstrom, there\u2019s one case that will \u201chaunt me until I die.\u201d He led the prosecution of Robert Guevara, who was charged with raping and murdering a five-year old girl named Corrine Erstad in 1992. The girl\u2019s body was never found, but it was the early days of using DNA evidence to connect suspects to crimes. Backstrom had such evidence, but Guevara was acquitted<\/a>, Backstrom believes, in part because of limits in presenting the scientific importance of DNA during trials. Backstrom says he\u2019s grateful the Guevara case ultimately led to those limits being removed. He\u2019s kept a photo of Erstad in his office ever since.<\/p>\n

In 1998, Backstrom argued a case<\/a> before the U.S. Supreme Court \u2013 quite a thrill, he said, especially considering he won<\/a> the case. He argued for the state of Minnesota in a case dealing with proper searches and seizures by police. Arguing for the respondents was Brad Colbert, a then-public defender who now teaches at Mitchell Hamline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say we were a little nervous,\u201d noted Colbert. \u201cMaybe more than a little.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim did a great job at the argument, although I have to admit I was a little disappointed he did not break out his Elvis impersonation in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, Elvis.<\/p>\n

\"\"

County Attorney Elvis<\/p><\/div>\n

During his 20th<\/sup> high school reunion, Backstrom recalls being coaxed onto stage to sing an Elvis song (he\u2019d been in choir in high school and was voted the Shyest Boy in his class). To his surprise, he loved it and started finding more opportunities to sing (favorite Elvis song: \u201cSuspicious Minds<\/a>\u201d). His wife bought him his own Elvis costume for his 50th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n

Backstrom sings mostly to seniors at assisted living homes and hopes to do so more in retirement.<\/p>\n

For now, though, he\u2019ll focus on his own health and reflect on a long career that started while he was a student at William Mitchell. \u201cI\u2019ve been very privileged to hold this office as long as I have,\u201d he said. \u201cThe criminal justice system must always keep improving, and I\u2019m honored to have had many chances to try to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read news coverage from the Star Tribune<\/a>, Pioneer Press<\/a>, and KARE 11<\/a> about Backstrom’s retirement announcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every time James Backstrom \u201878 signs his name, he makes sure to include his middle initial so he can remember his father. Clifford Backstrom was a firefighter for more than three decades and passed a duty to serve the public to his son. In February, the son of Clifford Backstrom will retire just after his … <\/p>\n

Retiring Dakota Co. Attorney Jim Backstrom \u201878 encourages public service<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5668,"featured_media":17194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3,22,5],"tags":[28,42,114,113,115,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-17184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alumni","8":"category-features","9":"category-history-center","10":"category-news","11":"tag-alumni","12":"tag-brad-colbert","13":"tag-dakota-county","14":"tag-james-backstrom","15":"tag-john-sonsteng","16":"tag-scotus","17":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}