Jason Ravnsborg, former attorney general of South Dakota, speaks during a hearing about the future of his law license on Feb. 14, 2024, at the Capitol in Pierre while his legal team looks on. (David Bordewyk/SD NewsMedia Association)
The former South Dakota attorney general who accidentally killed a man with his vehicle in 2020 will lose his license to practice law in South Dakota for six months under the terms of a ruling released Thursday by the state Supreme Court.
The suspension is effective immediately.
Jason Ravnsborg was impeached, convicted and removed from office in 2022 by the South Dakota Legislature for his actions after the collision just outside of Highmore, which killed pedestrian Joe Boever on Sept. 12, 2020.
The state Supreme Court ruled that Ravnsborg’s conduct after the crash and during the investigation was unbecoming of an attorney, particularly one who’d been serving in a position of trust as South Dakota’s top law enforcement official. Ravnsborg, a Republican, was elected in 2018.
Ravnsborg will be required to reimburse the court and the State Bar of South Dakota for the costs of the proceedings prior to the return of his license. The opinion does not specify an amount.
False statements during investigation
The Thursday ruling on his suspension criticized his decision to stay on as attorney general as the criminal case against him proceeded.
He pleaded no contest in 2021 to two misdemeanor charges, not admitting or denying his mobile phone use while driving and his illegal lane changes. He also settled a civil case brought by Boever’s family.
“It is evident, even as of the time of oral argument to this Court, that Ravnsborg failed to consider how his actions following the accident and the subsequent investigation, would impact his office’s ability to fulfill its duties in such a way that maintained the public’s confidence,” the state Supreme Court’s opinion says.
The ruling also calls out Ravnsborg for lying to investigators about whether he’d used his cell phone during the Sept. 12 trip. An accident reconstruction showed that he wasn’t looking at his phone at the time of the crash, but a forensic investigation of the device found that he’d spent much of the trip using it. Ravnsborg initially denied using his phone at all.
“His evolving explanation regarding the extent of his cell phone use while driving involved actual dishonesty and misrepresentations,” the ruling said. “He only reluctantly admitted that he ‘looked at stuff’ on his phone after he was confronted with specific information found on his phone.”
The state’s high court also called out Ravnsborg for noting his position as attorney general when he reported the crash, as well as in previous traffic stops, as inappropriate.
Shorter suspension than first recommended
The Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of South Dakota recommended a 26-month law license suspension. Ravnsborg contested the board’s recommendation, though he’d voluntarily ceased to practice law. A referee, retired circuit court judge Bradley Zell, ruled that the board had overstepped in some of its conclusions. Ravnsborg had still behaved in a manner worthy of censure, Zell decided, but not suspension.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case in February.
Chief Justice Steven Jensen, writing for the court, disagreed with the referee and wrote that Ravnsborg had been dishonest and acted in a manner unbecoming of an attorney.
The opinion did not uphold the 26-month suspension, however. Jensen pointed to the case of the late former Governor and Congressman Bill Janklow, who ran a stop sign and killed a motorcyclist in 2003.
Janklow’s law license was suspended for 26 months, but Jensen wrote that the Janklow case involved a felony reckless manslaughter conviction. Ravnsborg’s case involved two low-level misdemeanors – crimes that, unlike Janklow’s, would not result in an automatic suspension of his law license.
The opinion also says that Ravnsborg was “a well-respected public servant for most of his career,” having served in the military prior to joining state government, marking another reason a six-month suspension is more reasonable.
Ravnsborg told the court in February that “he does not plan to practice law in South Dakota after these proceedings are concluded.”
Even so, the opinion says, the suspension should signal that his behavior was a breach of his ethical responsibilities as an attorney and are worthy of sanction.
“While Ravnsborg is unlikely to continue practicing law in South Dakota, we conclude suspension is necessary to preserve the integrity of the profession and deter like conduct by other attorneys.”
Ravnsborg is currently registered as the chair and treasurer of a statewide political action committee named $99 for Freedom, according to campaign finance documents on file with the secretary of state.
The committee had about $28,000 cash on hand as of its most recent campaign finance disclosure, which was money transferred from Ravnsborg’s prior candidate committee, Jason for South Dakota, in 2023. The PAC had not contributed to any campaigns or spent any money beyond office supplies and bank fees as of May 20, the date of the organization’s last public filing.
Calls to the phone number listed on the campaign finance reports were answered with an automated message saying the line had been disconnected, or that the number had been changed.
An email sent to the committee’s listed email address was not immediately returned.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.
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Publish date : 2024-09-19 07:33:00
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