Candidate for Secretary
Starlyn R. Tourtillott
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin - Legal Services Department
Email: starlynrose@hotmail.com
Platform Statement
I humbly ask for your vote for 2018-2020 secretary of the State Bar of Wisconsin, because our membership is best served when diverse representation of all Wisconsin interests are reflected in officer positions. I am a unique candidate – one of the first Native American candidates to be nominated in the last 50 years. And equally as important, I am an attorney who lives and works in a rural community in Northeast Wisconsin – which is unique, because traditional candidates and officers of the State Bar typically work and practice in Madison and Milwaukee. In tribal community we have a phrase we use—it’s called “walking in two worlds.” It enables you to see the beauty of two worlds, where they can be blended and where they cannot, to ultimately find the balance of harmony while walking in both worlds.
I understand that rural practitioners face unique challenges and have also discovered unique solutions. I know our young lawyers face challenges with law school debt. I also know our rural communities face lawyer shortages, especially for the most needy. If elected, I would support innovative solutions, like the current bill being circulated that offers loan repayment to young lawyers practicing in rural communities serving our most vulnerable. I would work to increase Wisconsin’s compensation rate for lawyers who assist our most vulnerable. Our State Bar needs people like me who walk in many worlds to lead and build consensus to further the goals of all of our State Bar members.
Biography
Received B.S. in Education (2005) and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008). Serves as an Assistant Tribal Attorney for the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Advisory Board Member of the United States Department of Interior’s Office of Special Trustee, member of the Re-Development Authority (RDA) for the City of Shawano, parks advisory member for City of Shawano, downtown steering committee member for City of Shawano, and is currently running for Shawano School District Board of Education.
Married to Beau Elliot Miller, Conservation Officer for Stockbridge-Munsee Community. They have two children, Miles Aupaumut Miller (9 years old) and Meryl Blue Miller (6 years old), and Labrador retriever named Duck, Duck, Gus.
