April 1, 2022

South Dakota House Select Committee Votes Against AG Impeachment

Lori Kalani, Bernard Nash

Cozen O'Connor

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Cozen O'Connor

In a 22-page report released March 28, a South Dakota House Select Committee recommended that AG Jason Ravnsborg face no impeachment charges stemming from a 2020 car crash. In that accident, AG Ravnsborg, who was driving home alone at night following attendance at a political event, struck and killed pedestrian Joseph Boever after AG Ravnsborg’s vehicle left the roadway.
According to the report, AG Ravnsborg’s conduct did not merit impeachment under South Dakota’s Constitution, which only permits impeachment in the case of “drunkenness, crimes, [or] corrupt conduct or malfeasance in office.” The report noted that AG Ravnsborg did not consume alcohol that day, and did not otherwise commit a crime constituting an impeachable offense.
The full House of Representatives will convene on April 12 and vote on AG Ravnsborg’s impeachment, which requires a simple majority in the House, followed by a trial in the South Dakota Senate where a conviction would require the agreement 2/3 of the members.

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