Judge, state Bar split on discipline of former AG Jason Ravnsborg

Ex-attorney general still dealing with accident fallout more than three years later

(Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

When the South Dakota Supreme Court takes up the disciplinary hearing of former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg later this month, the justices will have two starkly different opinions to weigh. 

At stake in the Feb. 14 hearing is Ravnsborg’s law license and the professional stain that would come with its suspension. A disciplinary board from the South Dakota Bar Association recommended that Ravnsborg’s law license be suspended for 26 months in relation to his conduct following a 2020 crash in which he struck and killed a pedestrian.

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Ravnsborg appealed the Bar’s decision to a referee. The Supreme Court appointed former Circuit Court Judge Bradley Zell as referee, and Zell held a hearing in the matter on Nov. 13. He reached a decision contrary to the Bar Association’s.

At issue is Ravnsborg’s conduct following the incident in which the vehicle he was driving struck and killed Joe Boever on the night of Sept. 12, 2020, outside Highmore on Highway 14. The attorney general was driving back to Pierre that night after attending a GOP political dinner in Redfield.

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