Rolly Samp is a Flandreau native with multiple business and professional interests including law, writing, lecturing, politics and communications.
He holds a degree in political science and communications from Augustana College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of South Dakota.
While at Augustana, Samp was a member of the national-champion college debate team. And he was selected for the Sen. Francis Case Leadership Award and Sen. Robert Taft Award, among other honors. He and his wife, Karen, were the Argus Leader newlywed "Couple of the Year" in 1964.
Samp served for five and a half years heading the South Dakota field staff of U.S. Representative Ben Reifel, the first Plains Native American elected to the U.S. Congress.
At age 25, he became Chief of Staff to the governor of South Dakota. He began his private legal practice in Sioux Falls in 1971. Rolly has now been practicing law for over 40 years and has earned the respect of his peers with the highest rating an attorney can achieve. It’s his hard work for families, farmers, and small business owners that have earned his reputation of fighting for people, taking on cases other wouldn’t and winning the “tough ones.”
He is credited with authoring the state’s economic development incentive tax laws, South Dakota Administrative procedure law, and the rural ambulance program together with local option tax legislation.
Among his many civic activities, Samp in 1972-1973 organized a citizen group to successfully authorize and fund a four-year medical school for the state. In 1976, he helped lead the statewide fight for repeal of a dairy marketing law which had artificially fixed milk prices. He successfully fought for authorization of private college student funding in 1976. In 1977, Samp was one of the leaders who worked to remove a 40-year ban on championship high school football playoffs in the state.
He served as delegate to the "South Dakota Future" convention, representing the state’s largest county, and was on the Minnehaha County Bicentennial Committee.
In 1998, he served on the Governor’s Task Force on Trust Reform which led efforts to successfully revise the State’s surety and trust laws. He co-authored a S.D. Law Review Article on trusts in 1999.
Rolly Samp served eight years as Chief Tribal Judge of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. He has been active in Native American law beginning his work with Honorable Ben Reifel as Congressman and former Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian affairs, his leadership in successfully defeating a South Dakota Referendum which would have allowed state jurisdiction over Indian reservations and his efforts to assist in organizing the United Sioux Tribes, Inc. he and Karen have helped raise several Native American foster children.
In 1986, the United Sioux Tribes gave him their highest honor with a blessed peace pipe as thanks for over three decades of service to Native Americans. He was a member of the Northern Plains Tribal Judges Association.
In 1985, he was a founder of "South Dakotans to Save Our Lakes" and served as President from 1987 to 1991.
For many years, Samp was President of the Dakota Chapter, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and founder of Cystic Fibrosis Clinics of the state. He was chairman of the Minnehaha County Ambulance Study in 1993.
At the State Fair in 1995 Samp honored South Dakota WWII Veterans when he produced the show "South Dakota Remembers"; a golden anniversary celebration of the end of WWII.
He helped author and coordinated publication of a book on the "Governors of South Dakota." His weekly "What’s the Law?" newspaper column has approximately 400,000 readers. He has appeared in several national publications including Communicating for Agriculture, Farm Journal, Outdoor Life and Conservation Digest. He was a consultant for the Dan Rather-CBS News South Dakota "farm crisis" week-long television special in 1987.
Rolly was a volunteer YMCA youth basketball coach for 18 years, spent over five years as a Boy Scout leader, a member of the Sioux Falls Library Board and has held numerous church, civic and charitable positions. In 1989, he was recipient of the "Friend of 4-H" award and received the "Humanitarian of the Year" award in 1990.
He served as Vice President and President of Hope Lutheran Church and several years as a delegate in Augustana College Association, the Crossroads Conference and the South Dakota ELCA Synod Committee. He also served on the Augustana College Fellows Cabinet. Samp is the found of the "Fellowships of Christian Estate Planners".
He authored “The Final Tithe-A Christian Approach to Estate Planning,” Which is updated in a Second Edition. Rolly and Karen Samp have four children, Mike, Matthew, Rebecca and Elizabeth, along with serving as foster parents to nearly 70 youth.
website: Samp Law Office
