Vern Larson

Vernon L. Larson (born October 25, 1948 in Vivian, South Dakota) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. state of South Dakota.

Larson graduated from Vivian High School and received a degree from Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1970.

Larson began his career in politics as a South Dakota field staff member for U.S. Senator James Abdnor.

He served as South Dakota State Auditor from 1979 to 2003. He is the longest-serving constitutional officer in South Dakota's history, and in 1998, he was unopposed for re-election. This was the first time in South Dakota that a constitutional officer had no opposition in the general election.

He was elected state treasurer in 2002 and assumed office on January 6, 2003. He was re-elected in 2006, without opposition, and subsequently left office in 2011, subject to term limits of two consecutive four-year terms.

In August 2013, Governor Dennis Daugaard appointed Larson to serve out the remaining term as South Dakota's commissioner of school and public lands after Commissioner Jarrod Johnson resigned. His term ends in January 2015. He thus became the first person in South Dakota history to serve in three different statewide executive offices.