Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will face three misdemeanor charges for his role in the fatal car versus pedestrian crash that took place last summer. 

All this and more in today’s SDPB News Podcast.

Find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify today.

A bill proposing to give lifers a chance at parole has passed through its first legislative committee hearing.

Senate Bill 146 applies only to inmates who were 25 years old or younger at the time of the crime.

Proponents say courts now recognize that much brain development takes place between the ages of 18 and 25.

But opponents say there are already processes for review of inmates serving life.

Victoria Wicks has this report for SDPB.

Officials say Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was distracted when he struck and killed a Highmore resident on the night of September 12th.

They declined to say how he was distracted, but are releasing the crash report and a photo of Ravnsborg’s car.

The report says Ravsnborg was travelling westbound and entered the north shoulder where he struck and killed Joseph Boever, who was walking on the north shoulder.

The Department of Public Safety is releasing a toxicology report and audio of the 911 call from the night Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg struck and killed a Hyde County resident a month ago.

The crash occurred outside of the town of Highmore a half mile west of the US Highway 14 and South Dakota 47 junction on September 12th.

An autopsy determined the cause of Joseph Boever’s death was traumatic injuries due to a pedestrian-motor vehicle crash.

In The Moment … September 17, 2020 Show 904 Hour 1

The family of Joe Boever remembers him as a precocious child and compassionate adult as his death continues to be part of a multi-agency investigation. Boever is the man who was struck by a car driven by South Dakota's Attorney General Saturday night. Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg released a statement saying he thought he had hit a deer with his car and had no idea (until he found Boever's body in the ditch the following morning) that he had killed a person.  

The Department of Public Safety is identifying the victim in a fatal crash involving South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

Ravnsborg told the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office he thought he had hit a deer.

Officials say 55 year old Joseph Boever died Saturday night in a pedestrian-vehicle crash west of Highmore.

According to the Department of Public Safety, Ravnsborg was driving westbound on US Highway 14, when he struck Boever.

Boever’s body was discovered the next morning.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was involved in a car crash on Saturday night that resulted in one fatality. Ranvsborg says he’s fully cooperating with the investigation. 

The incident happened around 10:30 Saturday night on Highway 14 just west of Highmore in central South Dakota.

Governor Kristi Noem says law enforcement is working on identifying the person killed and notifying the family. 

A bill to create a missing person’s clearinghouse is moving to the House after passing unanimously in the Senate. The bill is the result of legislative action last year calling on the Division of Criminal Investigations and attorney general to collaborate in response to high numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

An Alaska man was arrested in Sioux Falls for possessing CBD oil. Law enforcement officials say CBD oil is illegal in South Dakota.

CBD is a compound found in cannabis plants—both marijuana and hemp. It appears in products like lotions and drinks and appears in health stores, spas and coffee shops.

It’s the first such arrest after Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg issued a clarifying statement saying current state law makes all forms of CBD oil illegal.

Others say the law is not so clear.

Governor Kristi Noem says the biggest question facing lawmakers is the potential ramifications of repealing presumptive probation.

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s bill to remove the law is awaiting a committee hearing.

Presumptive probation was signed into law in 2013 as a part of the Public Safety Improvement Act. That law requires courts to sentence a person to probation, rather than prison time, for any Class 5 or 6 felonies, which are often low-level, non-violent drug offenses.

A bill sponsored by the South Dakota Attorney General repeals the presumption of probation for non-violent drug crimes.

The presumption was a part of a criminal justice overhaul package passed by the legislature in 2013.

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg campaigned on ending presumptive probation. He says

Ravnsborg says Senate Bill 19 gives discretion back to judges.