(Main photo by simpson33 via iStock / Getty Images Plus; seal courtesy State of Iowa)
The Iowa Supreme Court has suspended for two months the law license of South Dakota’s former attorney general due to his involvement in a 2020 traffic fatality.
In September 2024, the South Dakota Supreme Court suspended for six months the South Dakota law license of Jason Ravnsborg, who served as that state’s attorney general from 2019 until his impeachment and removal from office in 2022.
Because Ravnsborg is also licensed to practice law in Iowa, he was notified last year that his Iowa license may be subject to a six-month suspension based on South Dakota’s actions.
Ravnsborg argued against such a suspension, citing the fact that he was born on an Iowa farm in Cherokee County and later served three military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He told the court he believed he should “be given no more than a private reprimand” so he could move forward after four years of dealing with the matter.
At a recent hearing on the matter, the Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board cited the six-month suspension of Ravnsborg’s South Dakota license and asked the Iowa justices to impose identical, reciprocal discipline.
The court instead issued an order stating, without explanation, that it “finds that a 60-day suspension of Ravnsborg’s license to practice law in Iowa is the appropriate discipline.”
Question raised after fatality
Court records indicate that on 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2020, Ravnsborg was driving from a political event in Redfield, South Dakota, to his home in Pierre, South Dakota, when he struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever, who was walking on the shoulder of the road near the town of Highmore.
According to court records, Ravnsborg slowly brought his vehicle to a stop and called 911, telling the operator, “I’m the attorney general. And I am — I don’t know — I hit something.” The operator asked whether he had hit “a deer or something,” and he allegedly replied, “I have no idea, yeah, it could be, I mean it was right in the roadway.”
Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek was dispatched to the scene but couldn’t locate anything Ravnsborg struck. The next day, Ravnsborg returned to Highmore with his chief of staff to return the sheriff’s vehicle. On the way, they stopped at the site of the crash and found Boever’s body lying just off the side of the road and informed Volek of their discovery.
When he was interviewed by investigators, Ravnsborg denied having consumed any drugs or alcohol on the night of the accident — which, according to court records, was confirmed by a blood test. Ultimately, investigators concluded Ravnsborg had been driving outside the lane of travel, just off the roadway, when the accident occurred.
Ravnsborg pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor offenses — operating a vehicle while using a cell phone and improper lane driving — and a charge of careless driving was dismissed.
Ravnsborg then entered into a confidential civil settlement with Boever’s estate. In June 2022, he was impeached by the South Dakota Senate, removed from office and barred from ever holding public office again in South Dakota.
The Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of South Dakota subsequently investigated the matter and recommended a 26-month suspension of Ravnsborg’s law license.
The board alleged that when responding to questions by accident investigators, Ravnsborg “did not appear to be forthright, and (was) only willing to acknowledge certain conduct after being confronted with evidence by the investigators.”
The board also alleged that Ravnsborg frequently identified himself as “the attorney general” when encountering law enforcement for minor traffic violations. The board also noted that from the night of the accident and continuing throughout his service as attorney general, Ravnsborg made no public or private apology, never expressed his condolences to the Boever family, and he never acknowledged any culpability.
Ravnsborg, the board concluded, was more concerned with the “impact of the incident on his political and military careers than the victim, the victim’s family and the public he served.”
In opting for a six-month law license suspension, the South Dakota Supreme Court stated that “several of Ravnsborg’s statements after the accident raise questions about his honesty and truthfulness.” The court noted that Ravnsborg had repeatedly denied using his phones during his drive from Redfield to Highmore.
According to the court, the metadata on one of Ravnsborg’s phones showed that “minutes before” he called 911, he had unlocked his phone, checked his Yahoo email account, accessed the Dakota Free Press website, and clicked on a political news article.
It was only after investigators informed him of that evidence, the court said, that “Ravnsborg’s story took another turn” and he admitted “looking at stuff” on his phone before the accident.
“Ravnsborg’s responses demonstrated a concerted effort to avoid criminal liability through dishonesty and misrepresentations,” the court concluded.
Ravnsborg now lives in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, according to court records.
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