A former South Dakota attorney general urges the state Supreme Court to let him keep his law license

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Former South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg on Wednesday urged the state Supreme Court to dismiss an effort to suspend his law license, arguing that he took responsibility and acted professionally following a deadly accident with a pedestrian that precipitated his political downfall.

Ravnsborg was impeached and removed as attorney general less than two years after the 2020 accident that killed 55-year-old Joe Boever, who was walking along a rural stretch of highway when he was struck. Now, a disciplinary board of the South Dakota State Bar is seeking a 26-month suspension of Ravnsborg’s law license, though it would be retroactive to June 2022, when he left office. That means the suspension would end in August.

It’s unclear when the court will decide if the suspension should be imposed.

Ravnsborg spoke on his own behalf at the court hearing. He told justices that contrary to the disciplinary board’s allegations, he was remorseful.

“I’m sorry, again, to the Boever family that this has occurred,” Ravnsborg told the court. “It’s been 1,051 days, and I count them every day on my calendar, and I say a prayer every day for him and myself and all the members of the family and all the people that it’s affected. And I’m very sorry for that.”

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