Ep. 3: 'An Average Joe'

As the dust settles, state leaders begin asking new, broader questions about the whole saga. And despite everything that’s happened in Jason Ravnsborg’s life, his eyes are still set law and politics. The fight for his legal career leads him to the state Supreme Court, where he breaks years of silence on the case.

No constitutional officer in the history of South Dakota has ever been impeached. The fate staring down Jason Ravnsborg in the Senate is permanent, as lawmakers consider whether to remove and bar him from office over his conduct involving a fatal crash.

Just as it seemed Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg would hold onto his office, there’s a new push by lawmakers to move impeachment forward. It’s a political struggle that defies party lines. And it all boils down to a first-of-its-kind vote.

Impeachment proceedings lead to more investigation details being made public. But some lawmakers begin to push back against the snowballing effort to remove Jason Ravnsborg from office. Meantime, Joe Boever’s family say his death is being used as a political “chess piece.”

The investigation and ensuing charges lead to turmoil and confusion in state government as Jason Ravnsborg seeks to hold onto the reins of the attorney general’s office. But a growing number of powerful people challenge his credibility – and his ability to do his job. Somewhere along the way, the fight gets messy.

The weeks and months following the fatal crash are an anxious time as details of the investigation trickle out. When charges are finally announced, cries of injustice scream out. They’re not just from Joe Boever’s family. Some come from the highest levels of state government.

Joe Boever never sought fame, seeming to prefer a quiet, thoughtful life. In death, he became the focal point of a story dominating news headlines for years. But to his family, he was never just a victim in someone else’s story. We examine his life and ask – why was he walking along the highway that night?

Before the fatal crash, Jason Ravnsborg was a political upstart – going from an unknown to holding one of the state’s highest offices nearly overnight. How did someone with so little experience in either politics or the courts rise so fast?

An impromptu press conference on a sleepy Sunday stuns an entire state. Jason Ravnsborg, South Dakota’s top law enforcement officer, struck and killed a man with his car. The tragedy sparks investigations, allegations and upheaval at the highest levels of state government.

A preview of SDPB latest podcast following the former South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg after he struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever in September 2020 to his impeachment and removal from office in June 2022.