Adam Hamm is a self-proclaimed perfectionist.

During an interview for this article, he apologizes for calling in four minutes late. Afterward, Hamm sends a text message saying he was being imprecise when referring to North Dakota as a state of 600,000 people. He meant to say 640,000.

Friends and colleagues describe him as personable, talkative and a guy who's hard not to like.

Hamm, 36, takes the reins today as North Dakota's next insurance commissioner. He was appointed to the position by Gov. John Hoeven earlier this month and will fill out the remaining year of departing commissioner Jim Poolman's term. Poolman resigned in August to become a private consultant to the insurance industry.

For Hamm, October has brought a rush of life-altering change.

Two weeks ago, he was a private lawyer practicing with the Fargo firm of Anderson Bottrell Sanden and Thompson. Today, he is starting a public life as a politician that will begin with a run for a full four-year term as insurance commissioner in 2008.

Hamm's also expecting some personal changes. Last week, he got engaged to girlfriend Michelle Hovde, and will soon be the stepdad to two young children: 9-year-old Wyatt and 6-year-old Halle.

But change is nothing new for Hamm.

Early years

A native of Jamestown, Hamm grew up as an only child. His father was a cleaning products salesman and his mother worked as an information technology administrator in the early days of that industry. Hamm said both his father's family, who owned Hamm's Market, and his mother's family, who worked as farmers and ranchers, had a profound influence on him.

"It was hammered into me from an early age that you work hard, that if you want a friend you have to be a friend, and if somebody is paying you to do a job, you do it well," he said.

But as is often the case, there was more to Hamm's childhood than the idyllic Norman Rockwell painting it resembled. His parents divorced when he was just 5 years old. Then, when Hamm was 14, his family decided it would be best if he moved to Los Angeles to live with his mother, who had taken a job out there with a defense contracting firm.

"I went from a town where I literally knew everybody in my class to a place where I didn't know anyone," Hamm recalls.

He attended high school in Torrance, Calif., made new friends, and learned to enjoy new experiences such as beaches and year-round warm weather.

Hamm had long wanted to be a police officer or federal agent, so at 18 he packed his bags to attend college at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's reputation as a top criminal justice school made it a natural choice for Hamm to follow his career goals.

But as is the case for many college students, those goals slowly changed. Hamm said watching the criminal justice system in action made him much more interested in the legal and prosecutorial side than the enforcement side. He left college with plans to go to law school, but wasn't sure where.

In the meantime, Hamm moved back to the Los Angeles area, where he lived with some buddies from high school and managed a Foot Locker. But the smog and traffic and living expenses didn't sit well with him.

When applying for law schools that year, he had included the University of North Dakota on his list.

After being accepted at UND, Hamm had made his decision: He would be coming home.

A legal career

Hamm knew from his time in college that he wanted to be a prosecutor.

After clerking for courts in Grand Forks after his first year of law school, Hamm got a job clerking for the Cass County state's attorney's office after his second year of law school. Colleagues threw him right into the mix, making him part of the team that prosecuted a pair who conspired to rob and kill a store owner.

Upon graduating in 1998, Hamm had a job waiting for him as a full-time assistant prosecutor.

John Goff, the former Cass County state's attorney who hired Hamm, said Hamm's strong judgment and communications skills made him ideal to fill an opening that he had at the time.

"Out of all the people who've worked for me over the years, Adam was clearly one of the best," Goff said.

Hamm was hired contingent on passing the bar exam, causing him some anxiety over the test that has derailed many aspiring lawyers.

"Literally, when they called me in September I had the phone a foot away from my ear, squinting and just hoping she would say I passed," Hamm recalls. "Luckily, it worked out."

Hamm spent his three-and a-half-year prosecutorial career in the personal crimes unit. His assignments - murders, rapes, child sex cases -could have been ripped from an episode of "Law and Order."

In his most famous case, Hamm and colleague Mark Boening won a conviction against Kyle Bell in 1999 for the killing of Jeanna North. A neighbor of Bell, Jeanna was 11 years old when she disappeared in 1993. The case drew national attention in the fight against sex offenders.

Hamm said his three years as a prosecutor were full of long nights and weekends as the office tried to keep up with a heavy caseload. He said the satisfaction of helping victims' families made the job worth it.

But after a while, the constant exposure to humanity at its worst took its toll. By the end of 2001, Hamm was ready to take his litigation skills elsewhere.

Recruited by friend and law school classmate Kyle Carlson, Hamm joined the Fargo firm of Anderson Bottrell Sanden and Thompson, where he worked until today.

Hamm's handled litigation at the firm and specialized in commercial and civil litigation, as well as transportation and agriculture law.

"We're going to miss him here at the firm, and his spot is going to be hard to fill," Carlson said. "Adam is very outgoing, friendly and approachable."

While working as a lawyer, Hamm also has explored a longstanding interest in Republican politics. A protege of the Ronald Reagan years, Hamm said his beliefs in fiscal conservatism, less government regulation and a strong criminal justice system solidified his party affiliation.

Hamm has served as chairman of the Cass County Republican Party. In 2005, his group received national attention drawing up a list of 40 names that would be turned away at the door if they tried to attend a Fargo speech by President Bush. Hamm said at the time that he didn't know of the list being drawn up.

Three years ago, Hamm applied to Hoeven's administration to be a judge when a spot on the East Central District Court opened up. Hoeven chose somebody else for the job.

New commissioner

Hamm had better luck this time around.

Upon hearing about the insurance commissioner vacancy in August, Hamm submitted his name to Hoeven. Despite not having any direct experience in the insurance sector, Hamm said his background learning complex issues as a litigator and his interpersonal skills would make him a good insurance commissioner.

He interviewed once with Hoeven and again with Hoeven's staff. After spending a weekend at a North Dakota State University football game, he was called the next Monday and informed that he had the job.

Hamm plans to handle his new job just as he has handled everything else in life - by tackling it head on. He has a full schedule lined up to coordinate his new staff and "blitz" the state to meet the players in North Dakota's insurance industry.

"I want everybody to know the new insurance commissioner," Hamm said.

Carlson, Hamm's friend and colleague, said he always expected Hamm to end up in position like the one he begins today.

"I think he has always wanted to be in politics, and this was a great opportunity for him," Carlson said. "I always had a feeling this day would come."

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)