Impeachment weighed for S.D. official

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota lawmakers are considering impeaching the state’s attorney general as he faces misdemeanor charges after fatally striking a man with his car, Republican legislative leaders said Monday.

Jason Ravnsborg, the state’s top law enforcement officer, indicated he will not step down while he waits for the case against him to proceed. Prosecutors have charged him with three misdemeanors but no felonies in the September death of 55-year-old Joseph Boever.

Rep. Tim Goodwin, a Republican whip whose job is to gain support from his fellow lawmakers, said Ravnsborg should resign and that lawmakers are considering impeachment if he doesn’t.

South Dakota law allows officials like the attorney general to be impeached for conduct including a “misdemeanor in office.”

Republican House Speaker Spencer Gosch acknowledged that impeachment was being weighed by lawmakers, but he said the legislative resolution that would start such proceedings has not been filed.

The Republican attorney general, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities that he thought he had struck a deer or another large animal as he drove home to Pierre from a party fundraiser late on Sept. 12. He said he didn’t realize he had killed a man until the next day when he returned to the accident scene. He was charged with careless driving, driving out of his lane and operating a motor vehicle while on his phone.