The Disciplinary Board of the South Dakota State Bar wants the Supreme Court to suspend former-Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s law license for two years.
The board issued the recommendation on May 19, 2023, which was obtained by SDPB.
Ravnsborg was impeached and removed from office last year for his role in the death of a South Dakota pedestrian.
In a blunt assessment of Ravnsborg’s position as a lawyer in the state, the disciplinary board said Ravnsborg violated professional conduct standards and eroded public confidence in the legal profession.
The board wants Ravnsborg’s law license suspended for 26 months. The suspension would start retroactively back to June 21, 2022, which was the day the state Senate removed him from office.
Ravnsborg has not practiced law since his removal, but he told the board he intends to seek a position “in an undetermined jurisdiction.” Ravnsborg told the board he would like to return to private practice in South Dakota.
The complaint against Ravnsborg was filed by Alexis Tracy, the former State’s Attorney for Clay County. Tracy was a prosecutor in the Senate impeachment trial.
Tracy now works in Attorney General Marty Jackley’s office. She declined to comment for the story.
It’s unclear what date the complaint was filed. In Ravnsborg’s response to Tracy's complaint, the board said “Ravnsborg displayed a troubling lack of understanding of his obligations as a lawyer.”
The board’s findings of fact said Ravnsborg treated their investigation as a political dispute, rather than a lawyer discipline matter.
“After persistent prompting form the board, he reluctantly agreed that the board was not part of a political conspiracy,” the disciplinary board wrote.
Ravnsborg did not return requests for comment. His lawyer, Mike Butler, declined comment.
The findings of fact provide a rare glimpse into Ravnsborg’s perception of the impeachment proceedings. Ravnsborg has not commented on the impeachment since his removal last year.
“Ravnsborg considered the investigation of his conduct related to the killing of Joe Boever to be a political matter aimed to remove him from office because he considered himself to be a reformer, or outsider, who administered his office without influence from politicians protecting powerful people who were engaging in criminal conduct,” the board wrote.
In a letter to House lawmakers before their impeachment vote, Ravnsborg said he office had multiple ongoing investigations “into the governor’s alleged activities and people associated with her.”
Two weeks before the crash, ProPublica reported Ravnsborg’s office was investigating billionaire T. Denny Sanford for possession of child pornography. Sanford’s lawyer at the time, Jackley, is now the current Attorney General, again. Recent affidavits show Sanford has ties to a California home where one of the images containing child pornography was taken.
“Ravnsborg considered the investigation of his conduct related to the killing of Joe Boever to be a political matter aimed to remove him from office because he considered himself to be a reformer, or outsider, who administered his office without influence from politicians protecting powerful people who were engaging in criminal conduct,” the board wrote.
In a letter to House lawmakers before their impeachment vote, Ravnsborg said his office had multiple ongoing investigations “into the governor’s alleged activities and people associated with her.”
Additionally, two weeks before the crash, ProPublica reported Ravnsborg’s office was investigating billionaire T. Denny Sanford for possession of child pornography. Sanford’s lawyer at the time, Jackley, is now the current Attorney General, again. Recent affidavits show Sanford has ties to a California home where one of the images containing child pornography was taken.
The disciplinary board regards the position of attorney general as the chief law enforcement officer for the state of South Dakota. In the findings, the board wrote Ravnsborg “believes this is a public misperception.”
“Ravnsborg would not acknowledge that as chief law enforcement officer for the state he should be held to a higher standard of conduct."
They say from the crash to his removal from office, Ravnsborg’s “concerns of the impact of the incident were more focused on his political and military careers than the victim, then family and public he served.”
Ravnsborg is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve. He is presently on the Army Reserve list of candidates for promotion to colonel.
“Ravnsborg believes his military promotion has been placed on hold as a result of the Boever incident and the fallout that has followed,” the board continued.
Ravnsborg formally denied the allegations in the accusation on June 14, 2023.
The issue of whether to suspend Ravnsborg's license is now kicked to a separate referee, which is retired judge Bradley Zell. Zell will take and hear testimony and submit an additional findings of fact, conclusions of law and issue a recommendation to the state Supreme Court.
Both the South Dakota Bar and Ravnsborg will have 20 days to respond to Zell's report before the recommendation on Ravnsborg’s law license is passed on to the state Supreme Court, which makes the final discipline decision.
