South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has appointed the lead prosecutor in the Senate impeachment trial against former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to fill the remainder of Ravnsborg's term.
Noem's appointment of Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo as attorney general was effective Tuesday.
“Mark Vargo returns integrity, experience and stability to the Attorney General’s Office,” said Noem who called for Ravnsborg, a first-term Republican, to step down days after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in September of 2020. The GOP governor then pushed for his impeachment.
Vargo has the "respect of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors statewide," the governor said in a statement.
Vargo will serve as attorney general through Jan. 6, 2023. The new attorney general is scheduled to be sworn in the following day.
Noem has endorsed Ravnsborg’s predecessor, Marty Jackley, for the Republican nomination for attorney general. Jackley was also picked by GOP delegates at last weekend's state party convention.
Jackley served as the state’s attorney general for about a decade and the state’s U.S. attorney for three years.
Ravnsborg was removed from office last week after the Senate heard testimony about his conduct in the September 2020 crash that killed Joseph Boever, who was struck as he walked along a rural highway. Ravnsborg had announced shortly before his impeachment trial that he would not seek a second term. The Senate also voted to prohibit him from holding public office again.
Ravnsborg appeared before a state ethics board Monday to press for an investigation of Noem, the person he blames for his impeachment.
As attorney general, Ravnsborg last year filed a pair of complaints against Noem to the state’s Government Accountability Board alleging she abused the powers of her office by interfering in a state agency as it evaluated her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license and by misusing state airplanes. The board, which is comprised of retired judges, has not decided whether to investigate Noem, who is running for reelection after a first term in which she has gained national prominence in her party and is widely considered to be a White House aspirant in 2024.
The former attorney general has denied he was out for revenge against Noem.
