Serving Our Community

Dave Pinto is a Ramsey County native. He grew up in Falcon Heights and attended the Roseville public schools. He now lives in St. Paul with his wife and two sons.

The County Attorney has a special obligation to protect the vulnerable. Pinto knew vulnerability at an early age. He was born blind due to a birth defect, and still has severely limited vision in his right eye. It was important to his family that this limitation not prevent him from achieving all that he could. Following his graduation from Roseville Area High School, he attended Harvard University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in government with honors. He then went on to the University of Virginia, where he received graduate degrees in law and management. In law school, he was a member of the prestigious Virginia Law Review, was selected into the Order of the Coif, and received the Raven Award, the highest recognition granted by the University of Virginia's honor society.

Following law school, Pinto served as law clerk to the Honorable Diana E. Murphy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where — among other responsibilities — he supported Judge Murphy's work as chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. He was in private practice for a number of years at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. in Minneapolis, where he built a diverse practice representing and advising a number of public and private organizations. He is a recipient of the firm's pro bono award – given for "extraordinary commitment" to legal services for the needy — for contributing hundreds of hours of free legal services to disadvantaged individuals and non-profit organizations, including the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, the St. Paul Parks Conservancy, and Friends of the Mississippi River. Pinto's experience also includes serving in the Clinton White House and the office of the late Congressman Bruce Vento, who represented St. Paul, as well as working at a number of non-profits.

Pinto is currently a domestic violence prosecutor in the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, where he specializes in cases in which children are present.

Pinto is a parishioner at St. Peter Claver Church in St. Paul and a proud member of AFSCME Council 5, Local 8. He is a board member of Partners for Violence Prevention; Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation; and the St. Paul Capital Investment Budget Committee.

As a result of his accomplishments and contributions to the community, Pinto was named a Rising Star by Minnesota Law & Politics magazine in 2009 and 2010. In each year, he was one of only three prosecutors in the state to receive the honor.