The South Dakota House of Representatives has voted to impeach state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg in a 36-31 vote. Ravnsborg, a Republican, struck and killed a man while driving home from a Republican fundraiser on Sept. 12, 2020 but didn't report the death until the next day, claiming that he believed his car hit a deer.
Investigators were immediately suspicious of that delay, both because it meant that Ravnsborg's blood alcohol levels weren't tested until long after the accident, and because Highway Patrol officers investigating the crash found the victim's glasses inside Ravnsborg's car. After nearly a year of delay, Ravnsborg pled no contest to misdemeanor charges, but faced no jail time. Ravnsborg had a prior history of traffic offenses and of using his position to avoid tickets when pulled over. A later investigation found evidence that he was reading a conspiracy website on his phone while driving.
Ravnsborg's support inside the Republican-controlled House, however, continued to crumble, and when "new evidence" was presented that clarified the graphic details of "the length of time [the victim's] body was on the AG's car with his head inside of the AG's car's window," the House reversed a March decision not to impeach. State Rep. Charlie Hoffman said the presentation by Highway Patrol officers included "irrefutable evidence" that Ravnsborg "knew exactly what he hit." Republican Gov. Kristi Noem also called for Ravnsborg's impeachment.
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Ravnsborg will now be temporarily removed from office while the state Senate prepares for his impeachment trial. A two-thirds majority of senators will be necessary to convict him. Ravnsborg has been belligerent in his defenses, insisting both that he truly did not know that he had struck his victim and that calls for his impeachment are politically motivated.
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