Every day, it's a getting closer.
On Saturday, Jonathan Ellis reported for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in Lawmakers call special session to consider Ravnsborg impeachment:
Enough South Dakota House members have signed onto a petition to call a special session on Nov. 9 to consider the potential impeachment of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch confirmed Saturday.
The House needed to reach a 47-member threshold to call a special election, and Gosch confirmed that threshold had been met. The names of lawmakers who signed the petition are not being made public.
The state Senate had already reached its threshold. Gosch, a Republican from Glenham, said he would need to meet with Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, the Republican Senate pro tempore from Watertown, to formalize the meeting.
"Sen. Schoenbeck and myself have to get together and sign the official document," he said.
Calling a special session does not necessarily mean Ravnsborg will face impeachment proceedings, Gosch said. The petition only calls for a special session, which will take place when lawmakers are already in Pierre for a special session to address re-districting legislative districts for the next 10 years.
"That's all they voted on. Now, we can have a meeting," Gosch said.
Once in session, lawmakers will have to decide on whether to consider a separate resolution to form a select committee to review evidence into Ravnsborg's Sept. 12, 2020 traffic accident that left Joseph Boever dead. Boever was walking on Highway 14 near Highmore when Ravnsborg hit him. . . .
As a matter of fact, Boever wasn't on the highway. But then, neither was South Dakota's Attorney General.
The Washington Post carried the Associated Press's article on Sunday, South Dakota lawmakers to weigh whether seek AG impeachment:
The impeachment discussions will take place when lawmakers are in Pierre for a special session that starts Nov. 9 to address the redrawing of the state’s 10-year electoral maps.
The move does not necessarily mean Ravnsborg, a Republican, will face impeachment proceedings, Gosch said. Once in session, lawmakers will have to decide on whether to consider a separate resolution to form a select committee to review evidence from the Sept. 12, 2020, crash, the Argus Leader reported.
Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to a pair of traffic misdemeanors for the crash that killed Joseph Boever, who was walking on the shoulder of a rural highway late at night. Ravnsborg was driving home from a Republican fundraiser, and he didn’t return to the crash scene until the next day, telling investigators he though he had struck a deer.
Ravnsborg avoided jail time and was sentenced to fines totaling over $4,500 for making an illegal lane change and using a cellphone while driving.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has repeatedly called on Ravnsborg to resign. He has insisted that he will not, though, and that he can perform the duties of his office.
Leaders of the Republican-led Legislature decided that the names of the lawmakers who signed the petitions would not be made public.
We'll be following the run-up to this very special session.
Related posts:
- Associated Press: Top lawmakers release Ravnsborg impeachment petition for special session
- Justice for Joe Boever: news about Ravnsborg impeachment; Jackley's campaign for office
- Bipartisan group of South Dakota House leaders call for Ravnsborg impeachment inquiry
- A Friday of headlines in the life of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg
- Top South Dakota lawman: Joe Boever's killer Ravnsborg gets 7th speeding ticket since 2014
- Is anyone pleased with SD AG Jason Ravnsborg plea deal other than Team Ravnsborg?
- Remember Joe Boever: AP reports South Dakota AG Ravnsborg objects to cameras at his trial
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Army Reserve blocks Ravnsborg promotion due to Boever death
- Boever death: Ravnsborg didn't see face coming through glass, flashlight like beacon in grass
- Ravnsborg's lawyer enters not guilty plea; South Dakota Attorney General not present in court
- Joe Boever was killed, but Ravnsborg's attorney claims client suffering is the worst thing ever
- Justice for Joe Boever: Governor Noem calls for AG Ravnsborg's resignation; articles of impeachment filed in South Dakota House
- Attorney General Ravnsborg charged with 3 misdemeanors in crash that killed Joe Boever
- Twitter memorials: 5 months ago, South Dakota Attorney General Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever
- Daily Beast: Ravnsborg killed a man. Family members fear Joe Boever has been forgotten
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Noem supports using grand jury to speed up Ravnsborg killing probe
- States attorneys looking into killing of Joseph Boever by AG Ravnsborg not talking to Noem
- Rapid City Journal: After 4 months, still no decision on whether AG Ravnsborg will be charged for killing Joseph Boever
- AP: Prosecutors waiting on debris testing in SD Attorney General killing of Joseph Boever
- Governor Kristi Noem takes off her positive pants, given pace of Ravnsborg investigation
- Well, that's illuminating: South Dakota Highway Patrol’s accident report on Boever killing
- South Dakota News Watch: Crash experts question Ravnsborg’s car-deer explanation
- SD News Watch: State's criminal & civil traffic laws favor drivers over pedestrians in collisions
- UPDATED: Joe Boever's tragic death on Hwy 14: news digest about Ravnsborg's fatal accident
Photo: Ravnsborg's Taurus, via Rapid City Journal. From the New York Times' transcription:"“We know that his face came through your windshield,” one investigator said. The vehicle also had an imprint from at least part of the man’s body on the hood, an investigator said, adding that “at some point he rolls off and slides into the ditch.”
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