Sturgis Council approves contract with Nelson Law for legal representation

STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis City Council on Monday approved a contract for legal services from Nelson Law of Sturgis.

The city council did not set aside $110,000 for a city attorney or staff attorney in its 2025 budget after both individuals in those positions in 2024 left employment with the city. Instead, the city budgeted money for contracted legal services. The council issued a Request for Proposals and Nelson law was among three who submitted proposals.

Eric T. Davis, an associate attorney with Nelson Law, will serve as the appointed City Attorney under the agreement.

He would advise the city council, mayor, committees, boards, authorities or agencies; city staff and other city officials on all legal matters pertaining to city business.

Nelson Law proposes a two-part fee structure consisting of a monthly retainer and an hourly fee for additional services as authorized by the city council.

Expenses related to additional hourly services, as authorized by the city council, would be excluded from the retainer and billed separately.

The monthly retainer would be $7,200 (plus any applicable sales tax). This monthly retainer would provide the equivalent of 36 “office hours” per month at a rate of $200 per hour.

Also, Nelson Law is asking for suitable office space at Sturgis City Hall, allowing the majority of their monthly hours to be served on-site, ideally no more than two days per workweek.

A second legal contract was also approved at the meeting Monday.

Nelson Law’s firm may at times represent criminal defendants in matters involving City Officers and the Sturgis Police Department. This has the potential to create conflicts of interest in representing both sides of a case.

To address that conflict of interest, DeMersseman, Jensen, Tellinghuisen & Huffman, LLP have agreed to represent City Officers and Sturgis Police Officers in those cases where the Nelson Law firm is representing defendants against those City officials.

Their rate is $250 per hour for attorney time and $130 per hour for all work done on these matters by paralegals or legal assistants on their behalf.

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