Supreme Court suspends former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's law license in scathing rebuke of conduct

Following fatal accident, AG exhibited 'dishonest' behavior and failed to recognize seriousness of investigation, Court rules

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(Dave Bordewyk, South Dakota NewsMedia Association)

Former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg committed an ethics breach following an accident that killed a pedestrian that warranted a suspension of his law license, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The decision to suspend Ravnsborg’s law license for six months overturns a decision made by a referee that the Supreme Court appointed. The High Court appointed retired Circuit Court Judge Bradley Zell to hear Ravnsborg’s appeal from a South Dakota Bar Association disciplinary board that recommended the suspension of the former attorney general’s law license for 26 months.

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But Zell threw out the suspension, opting instead for a public censure of Ravnsborg for his habit of identifying himself as the attorney general when being pulled over for traffic violations – an act of using his office to escape trouble.

While the Supreme Court agreed with Zell that Ravnsborg had violated ethics standards by using his office, it also reinstated two other ethics violations in a scathing opinion on Ravnsborg’s conduct following the accident. One of those ethics violations prohibits lawyers from engaging in conduct involving fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.

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