SDPB’s Short Walk
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. 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 were lost due to the other big story happening at the time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Strubinger, SDPB’s Politics & Public Policy Reporter, filled in details of this incident with a podcast titled Short Walk. Strubinger’s interest in the story stemmed from the fact that he covered Ravnsborg prior to his election as Attorney General.
“Part of this podcast is telling the full story of how the attorney general, who critics point out had never tried a jury trial before, became the state’s top law enforcement official,” said Strubinger.
Along with learning about the story, Strubinger and the SDPB Journalism team discovered much about the legislative and legal processes.
“Impeachment of a constitutional officer is something we’ve never gone through as a state before. We set a precedent here. Another goal of this podcast was to let listeners know who Joe Boever was, and what his interests were. Details of the victims in stories like this are often overlooked,” said Strubinger.
Short Walk is nine half-hour episodes and is available on podcast platforms everywhere. Listeners’ support provided the opportunity for SDPB to explore this complex story in podcast form.