Mr. Ravnsborg, a Republican, was convicted by the Senate of two counts: committing crimes that resulted in the death of a person and misconduct for misleading law enforcement and abusing his office. The conviction required support from two-thirds of the Republican-dominated South Dakota Senate. Gov. Christie Noem, a fellow Republican who has repeatedly called on Mr. Ravnsborg to resign, welcomed the decision. “After almost two years, the dark cloud over the attorney general’s office has lifted,” he said. “It’s time to move on and start rebuilding trust in the office.” The Democratic Party of South Dakota said in a statement that “the decision to remove and remove him from office is an important last step to be accountable.” The Senate also voted to ban Ravnsborg, who said this month he would not run for re-election, that he would never run for public office. Mr Ravnsborg did not immediately return a message requesting comment. Ms. Noem will nominate his replacement. The sentence ended a painful episode that has gripped South Dakota: In September 2020, Mr. Ravnsborg called 911 to report that something, possibly a deer, had hit his car while traveling overnight on a rural highway. . The next day, as Ravnsborg and others searched the scene of the collision, they saw that the car had hit Joe Boever, 55, who was walking on the highway near Highmore, SD. Mr Ravnsborg did not plead guilty to two counts of wrongdoing in connection with the accident and was fined but did not serve a prison sentence. Prosecutors who testified before a legislative committee said they had no evidence to support more serious allegations. Mr Ravnsborg, who had spoken little publicly about the case, wrote a letter the day before the vote of censure, saying “he could not have resigned then and he can not resign now because the incident did not impede my ability to exercise the duties of a lawyer “. general. He did not testify at the Senate hearing.
