Frank Leroy Farrar (2 April 1929-31 October 2021) was the Republican Governor of South Dakota from 7 January 1969 to 5 January 1971, succeeding Nils Boe and preceding Richard F. Kneip.
Biography[]
Frank Leroy Farrar was born in Britton, South Dakota in 1929, and he served in the US Army Reserve from 1949 to 1953 and was on active during the Korean War. After the war, he worked as an IRS agent until 1957, and he became a judge in 1958 and served as Marshall County State's Attorney from 1959 to 1962, as Attorney General from 1963 to 1969, and as Governor from 1969 to 1971; as Governor, he reduced drug-related crimes, improved consumer protection, and modernized the state's regulatory authority over the banking and insurance industries. However, his raising of the state sales tax from 3% to 4% and his unpopular energy reforms cost him re-election in 1970, and he died in 2021.