Former South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was removed from office in June 2022 after he struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever in September 2020.
During the police investigation, Ravnsborg maintained that he did not know what he had hit until Boever's body was found the following day.
Investigators told Ravnsborg that Boever's face went through his car’s windshield, and Boever’s glasses were found inside the car. Boever's body was found a couple feet from the side of the road with a flashlight still on.
Ravnsborg stated that he never saw the body that night. He also denied being distracted by his smartphone, but data indicated that he was on his phone until about a minute before the collision.
Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors. Ravnsborg is the first statewide elected official to be impeached, removed from office, and barred from holding future office in the state.
Events like these are not easily forgotten, but many details have been lost during the other big story at this time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Strubinger, SDPB’s Politics & Public Policy Reporter, hopes to fill in some gaps with a podcast he will release this month titled Short Walk.
Short Walk spans nine half-hour episodes available Tuesday, February 20th. Episodes can be downloaded or streamed on any preferred podcast platform, or found at SDPB.org/shortwalk, along with other resources about the podcast.