Last week, we posted about the South Dakota News Watch Ravnsborg impeachment poll in SD House speaker unveils Special Investigative Committee members; poll reveals strong public support for Ravnsborg impeachment.
On Tuesday, the South Dakota House takes up the first step in that process.
Reporting for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Joe Sneve reports in After months of talk, South Dakota Legislature to decide attorney general impeachment, redistricting:
New polling shows most South Dakotans want their attorney general booted from office. And they could find out this week if their lawmakers agree.
South Dakota Legislators will meet for a pair of rare special sessions Monday and Tuesday in Pierre to consider impeaching Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg for conduct related to a fatal crash more than a year ago, as well as the decennial ritual of drawing new boundaries for the state's 35 Legislative Districts. . . .
Pollsters hired by South Dakota News Watch in October found that 66.8% of South Dakotans surveyed support removing Ravnsborg from office following his conviction of two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a crash that killed a pedestrian in September of 2020.
But neither of the charges now on Ravnsborg's record — a lane violation and texting while driving — amounted to criminal culpability for Joseph Boever's death. That's why support for impeachment isn't as resounding among some House members, who question whether two traffic tickets are grounds to oust South Dakota's top prosecutor.
"There's a huge precedent that's going to get set by doing this, looking at traffic misdemeanors," said Rep. Greg Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, who volunteered he wasn't among the two-thirds of the House to sign onto the petition calling for the Special Session on Impeachment.
But there are questions about whether Ravnsborg was truthful with the public and investigators in the aftermath of the crash. Some have suggested that impeachment might be appropriate because he lost the trust of the public and law enforcement groups from around the state have called for his resignation.
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