Buffalo County State’s Attorney Poo-Poos Ravnsborg Opinion, Remains Baffled by Plain Statute

Evidently Jason Ravnsborg’s opinion doesn’t count for much in Buffalo County. In this March 12, 2019, letter to the Buffalo County Commission, their state’s attorney from Chamberlain, David J. Larson, and his deputy and private law partner Albert Steven Fox poo-poo both Ravnsborg’s inflated opinion about the term of office of a combined register of deeds and treasurer and the explicit statute on which it is based:

We have now received the official opinion from the Attorney General’s office. As is sometimes the case it appears that none of the opinions various people put forward as to how to handle the situation are what the attorney general came back with [David J. Larson and Albert Steven Fox, letter to Buffalo County Commission, 2019.03.12]

None of the “various people” with whom the Buffalo County Commission discusses legal matters put forward the opinion that when SDCL 7-7-1.3 says “Such officer shall hold office for a term of four years commencing on the first Monday of January following his election,” it means such officer starts work on the first Monday of January? Where is the Buffalo County Commission soliciting legal opinions, out at the Prairie Chicken?

I know Jason Ravnsborg is a kakistocrat, but to suggest that this kakistocrat is the only person reading this simple statute and admitting its simple meaning strains credulity.

Based on the Attorney General’s opinion, in the case of a combined office, both the Register of Deeds and the County Auditor position are to be considered a single office with a single salary. We got that part right. Where he said we went the “wrong” way was when the terms of office ended for Elaine and started for Yvette. According to the opinion, Elaine’s term should have ended, and Yvette’s term should have begun, January 7th [Larson and Fox, 2019.03.12].

I’d say the mock quote marks on wrong were hilarious if they didn’t represent an apparent attempt to impose Trumpian relativism on the wording of the law. Yvette Isburg of Fort Thompson defeated Elaine Wulff of Gann Valley in the June 2018 primary, 91–75, then beat independent Dulcy Sinkie of Gann Valley in the general 300–233. The law says she was to take office on January 7, 2019. Mocking the Attorney General’s recitation of clear statute as “wrong” is akin to my speeding along Highway 34 and telling Sheriff Willman, “I know you think I went ‘wrong’ doing 80 back there, but that ’65’ on that sign really means ’85’.”

Keep in mind that an Attorney General’s opinions are intended to be advisory only. Their purpose is to give county officials guidance to follow until the State Supreme Court decides a case dealing with the issue. The Court is not required to agree with them and sometimes doesn’t. Because there was no prior opinion on the issue, there was no prior guidance [Larson and Fox, 2019.03.12].

When we raised the speed limit to 65, we drivers didn’t need guidance from the Supreme Court or the Attorney General to understand that we could drive 65, but not 70, on Highway 34. The South Dakota Supreme Court has never issued guidance on when the combo register/auditor starts her job because the statute is crystal clear: first Monday in January.

At this stage the opinion is hindsight. The fact is the statutes appeared to conflict, and it appeared to be unclear as to how to resolve the conflict  [Larson and Fox, 2019.03.12].

Statues, plural? What statutes? There is one statute of concern here, and that’s the one that applies to Buffalo County’s register/auditor, who begins her term on the first Monday of January.

In addition, Elaine was being treated for cancer, but intending to return to work to complete the annual reports and nobody wanted to cause her hardship. Yvette was new to the position and did not want to be responsible for preparing reports on Elaine’s work. Faced with that situation, we attempted to work out an arrangement acceptable to everyone. It was agreed that Yvette would assume the Register of Deeds position and allow Elaine to continue in the Auditor’s position to complete the reports. Although we thought we had a satisfactory agreement for compensating Yevette it turned out to be unsatisfactory [Larson and Fox, 2019.03.12].

Ah, so there’s money involved. That’s one reason Larson and some commissioners might be so interested in reading statute to say something it doesn’t.

I would suggest that having your new auditor review and report on the old auditor’s work is actually a really good idea for accountability. Buffalo County apparently needs some accountability if it is willing to propose an illegal scheme to deal with the Wulff–Isburg transition. Even if all parties really agreed that extending Wulff’s term for two months would be a nice thing to do, the law does not allow that nice doing. If there is any merit to the arrangement Larson describes (and says, with passive voice that should trigger your sensors, “It was agreed”), the simple, legal, no-fuss-no-muss solution is obvious: Isburg takes office and receives her full salary, as prescribed by law and ordinance (y’all have ordinances in Buffalo County, right?), then hires Wulff as a temporary deputy for the two months to show her where all the bodies are buried and help her prepare the 2018 annual report by March 1.

As Larson and Fox admit, this discussion is all after the fact. Whatever they were trying to do in the first couple months of the year, Yvette Isburg is now clearly, absolutely, without any room for statutory interpretation or equivocation or need for Supreme Court clarification, the duly elected register of deeds and auditor of Buffalo County. She was as of January 7, and she is now on April 7, and will be for the next the April 7s.

I’m not a resident of a county adjacent to Buffalo County, so I can’t offer my services to Buffalo County (that, and I don’t have a law degree!). But given Larson and Fox’s inability to read and accept plain statute and offer simple legal solutions to transition issues, maybe Buffalo County needs to shop around for better legal representation. (Hint #1: don’t shop around at the Prairie Chicken.)