Senate convicts AG Jason Ravnsborg of malfeasance of office after pedestrian death, votes to have him removed
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Update 5:30p.m.:
PIERRE – The South Dakota Senate has voted to remove Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg from office during his impeachment trial Tuesday.
The Senate voted to convict and remove Ravnsborg from office after hours of testimony, questioning and closing arguments for his role in the death of Joe Boever in September 2020.
The group of lawmakers needed a two-thirds majority vote or more for each of the two separate impeachment articles Ravnsborg faced, including crimes causing death and malfeasance in office, which were passed by the South Dakota House of Representatives earlier this year.
More: Noem says 'dark cloud' over Attorney General office lifted with Jason Ravnsborg removed
The Senate voted 24 to 9 in favor out of 35 on the first article of impeachment of crimes causing death and for the removal of Ravnsborg from office.
The Senate avoted 31 to 2 in favor out of 35 on the second article, malfeasance in office.
The Senate has also voted to permanently disqualify Ravnsborg from "holding any office of trust or profit" in South Dakota, based on the outcome of both impeachment articles.
Ravnsborg has been suspended from his duties since those articles were passed down in April.
More: Jason Ravnsborg breaks silence, says he won't seek re-election days ahead of impeachment trial
The attorney general seat currently up for election this November. Ranvborg has already confirmed he does not intend to run again.
Earlier today:
PIERRE — The first ever impeachment trial in the South Dakota Senate kicks off this morning at the state Capitol.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, impeached in the state House this spring for crimes and malfeasance in office stemming from a fatal crash 647 days ago, will stand trial during the two-day hearing that will decide the 46-year-old Republican's political future.
The trial caps nearly two years of uncertainty around the attorney general's office and Ravnsborg, who struck and killed a pedestrian while driving in summer 2020.
Here's a rundown of what led to Ravnsborg's impeachment and what's at stake in the trial proceedings that begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
The fatal crash
The first-term attorney general on the evening of Sept. 12, 2020, had been traveling from a political function in Redfield, S.D., to his Pierre home. While passing through Hyde County, Ravnsborg's vehicle collided with 55-year-old Joseph Boever, who police determined had been walking beside the roadway near the city of Highmore when he was killed.
In the moments after the crash, Ravnsborg called 911, identified himself to the dispatcher as the attorney general of South Dakota and said he was unsure of what his car had collided with.
Previously: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg: Read criminal complaint in fatal crash case
The responding officer, Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek, nor Ravnsborg reported seeing Boever's body in the ditch. Ravnsborg reported discovering Boever's remains the next morning when he was returning a personal vehicle Volek had loaned him to get home the prior evening.
The investigation
With Ravnsborg in charge of the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, which typically investigates matters involving public officials and law enforcement, the Highway Patrol brought in out-of-state investigators to examine crash circumstances.
They determined that Ravnsborg had been using his phone during his drive that evening, but not at the time of the crash. However, his vehicle was outside the lane of travel at the time of impact, contrary to what Ravnsborg had reported the night of the crash and in statements that followed.
Related: Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's journey from night of fatal crash to impeachment: Timeline
Police believed Ravnsborg to be distracted at the time of the crash but what that distraction was has never been determined. Ravnsborg has not provided explanation as to why his vehicle was outside the lane of travel.
Criminal conviction
Ravnsborg was convicted of a pair of misdemeanor traffic violations — a lane violation and using an electronic device while driving — in August 2021. Neither charges amounted to criminal culpability for Boever's death.
Impeached
The South Dakota House of Representatives in November 2021 launched its own investigation into Ravnsborg's conduct. And in March, the House Select Committee on Investigation recommended that the attorney general not be impeached.
More: Jason Ravnsborg breaks silence, says he won't seek re-election days ahead of impeachment trial
But 36 of the 70 members of the state House disagreed, and instead voted on April 12 to impeach Ravnsborg on the basis that he'd been convicted of crimes stemming from the crash, that he was not truthful with law enforcement in the aftermath of Boever's death and that he misused his position as Attorney General.
The South Dakota Senate impeachment trial
With Ravnsborg impeached by the House, the Senate now considers whether to convict him of the articles of impeachment.
Senate trial rules adopted in April order that proceedings begin at 8 a.m. both days and run no later than 8 p.m. each day.
Leading the prosecution on behalf of the Senate will be Mark Vargo, the Pennington County State's Attorney who for a time aided the Hyde County State's Attorney's prosecution team. He will be assisted by Clay County State's Attorney Alexis Tracy.
The pair intend to call a host of witnesses to the stand during the two-day proceedings, including former employees of Ravnsborg who'd he'd sought information from about cellphone forensics following the crash.
North Dakota and South Dakota crash investigators are also expected to take the stand as part of the prosecution strategy.
In Ravnsborg's corner will be Mike Butler, a leading defense attorney in South Dakota who will attempt to show Ravnsborg is not guilty of the charges spelled out in the articles of impeachment.
Butler has not submitted a list of potential witnesses to the Senate, and instead is expected to rely on oral arguments and cross examination of the prosecution's witnesses to make Ravnsborg's case.
Members of the Senate have been instructed by chamber leadership that they will be able to ask questions of witnesses through Vargo and Tracy.
To convict on articles of impeachment, the South Dakota Constitution requires a two-thirds affirmative vote. That means it will take at least 23 yes votes from senators to force Ravnsborg from office.
Beyond removal from the office he holds now, senators will also decide whether Ravnsborg's conduct should bar him from ever holding public official in South Dakota again, also triggered by a two-thirds majority vote.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Senate rules AG Jason Ravnsborg out of office
