Former state legislator Alan Aker has announced he is running for the Republican nomination for the Meade County Commission from District 4.

District 4 encompasses Piedmont and parts of Black Hawk. Aker is running for the seat currently held by Curt Nupen, who is not seeking re-election.

Aker, 44, lives near Piedmont.

He served in the state Senate from 1995-99, including a stint as Senate Majority Whip, and was chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee.

Aker owns a logging business and a sawmill in Newell.

A 1981 graduate of Sturgis Brown High School, Aker later received a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication from Black Hills State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota.

He is chairman of the Meade County Timber Advisory Committee and represents Meade County on the Rapid City Metropolitan Planning Organization.

He ran unsuccessfully for commissioner of School and Public Lands in 2002.

Aker said his goals, if elected, include protecting private-property rights, keeping property taxes as low as possible and assuring that taxpayers are treated as owners of their county government.

He is a former Rapid City Journal columnist.

He and his wife, Heidi, have three children.