House committee recommends no Attorney General impeachment

A South Dakota House committee is recommending that the state’s attorney general face no impeachment charges for his actions surrounding a 2020 fatal car crash. Gov. Kristi Noem had pushed for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, a fellow Republican, to be removed from office.

But a Republican-controlled House committee issued a report Monday and found his actions did not merit impeachment. It ended up a party line vote with the two Democrats on the panel voting against the “no impeachment” recommendation.

Speaker of the House Brian Gosch chaired the committee and called for the motion…

Individual House lawmakers may still bring impeachment charges against Ravnsborg, but the committee’s decision is seen as a major setback for those trying to remove him from office.

Governor Kristi Noem says, “these House members have made it clear that they are more concerned with the protection of one of their own than they are about the conduct of our state’s top law enforcement officer and holding him to account.” She says the people of South Dakota deserve better.

Ravnsborg struck and killed a man walking near a rural highway in September of 2020.

March 29, 2022