Policing & Justice

Ravnsborg, Jackley, Seiler: Three viable candidates for attorney general are in play as intrigue swirls around the upcoming race to be South Dakota's next top legal officer. The race features an impeached incumbent facing possible removal, a former AG running against him, and a Democrat keeping a close eye on who emerges from the GOP convention in June.

Anger and violence toward healthcare workers has been a concern for years, but the frequency of inappropriate behavior has risen significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unless tensions ease, experts worry that individual patient care will suffer and that the industry may see even greater worker shortages as healthcare workers continue to suffer burnout.

Traffic on the roadways is expected to return almost to pre-pandemic levels in South Dakota this holiday season, and distracted driving and speeding remain major safety risks for drivers, some who are unwilling to put down their phones or travel at a safe speed despite laws and information campaigns.

A series of juvenile justice reforms have been implemented in South Dakota over the past decade, and officials say the efforts have reduced the number of youths sent to locked facilities, lowered recidivism and kept more young offenders out of the adult justice system. But data show that youths of color, including Native Americans and Black youths who make up the majority of the youth offender population in South Dakota, are not benefitting as much as white juvenile offenders.

A treatment method that uses medications to reduce cravings for people addicted to opioids is being used more frequently to prevent overdoses and save lives in South Dakota, but addiction experts and law enforcement leaders are trying to reduce barriers that prevent wider use across the state.

Child advocates in South Dakota worry that child abuse cases spiked and were more severe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that a reduction in formal reports of cases may have allowed some child abuse to continue unabated.

Increasing difficulty in finding new volunteers and adequate funding have put rural ambulance services in South Dakota at risk of closure, leaving rural residents in danger of enduring longer response times in emergencies or even a total loss of access to emergency transportation. When a Meade County service collapsed in 2020, it meant some people were an hour away from getting emergency help.

Opposition to legalization of medical and recreational marijuana in South Dakota centered in part on concerns that youth use of the drug would increase after legalization, and prevention advocates and law enforcement officials remain worried now that voters approved both forms of legal pot on Nov. 3. But a review of research studies and data from states where it is already legal provides mixed results and few firm conclusions about legalization's effects on youth.

South Dakota laws place a great burden on pedestrians to be safe on or along state roadways and create a high legal standard for prosecutors or civil attorneys to prove that drivers were responsible in vehicle versus pedestrian accidents, legal experts say. The laws may come into play soon as an investigation continues into a fatal accident involving South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who struck and killed Joseph Boever on a rural highway on Sept. 12.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravsnborg said he thought he hit a deer on Sept. 12, when in fact he had struck and killed 55-year-old Joseph Boever while driving on U.S. Highway 14 west of Highmore. Ravnsborg left the scene that night and found Boever's body the next morning upon return. An accident reconstruction expert says it is improbable that Ravnsborg would not have known he struck a person, and another expert said it could be negligence if Ravnsborg's car left the travel lane and struck Boever on the shoulder.