If you’re following the story of idiot legislator State Rep. Travis Ismay who decided to do some self-help on the condition of a local road, damaging it, you’d know that the State Representative is facing a felony charge for his actions:
No comment is the response from a South Dakota legislator who has been indicted and arrested on a felony charge of intentional damage to a public road. Released on $500 bail, Travis Ismay, Newell, S.D. is facing a two-year prison term and a $4,000 fine.
Ismay’s indictment doesn’t offer details on the incident, aside from saying that the crime allegedly occurred three days after he won the Republican nomination to seek reelection to his District 28B state House seat.
A Butte County grand jury took testimony from a sheriff’s deputy, a highway department employee and a Butte County resident before issuing the indictment.
You might have expected the buffoon Ismay to defend himself in the matter, since he graded (or tried to grade) the road himself. But after initially not having an attorney, he went out and hired a fairly notable one, at least according to UJS records:
It appears that Rep. Ismay has quickly gone out and hired Tim Rensch out of Rapid City to defend him in this case.
Why should you recognize Rensch’s name? He’s who Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg hired to defend against criminal charges after the traffic/pedestrian accident that lead to his eventual impeachment and removal from office.
Overkill for a case like this? Maybe. You’d think that the legal bill will exceed the road repair bill. But.. there’s also that other thing. A felony conviction might cause the House of Representatives to refuse to seat him for office in 2027. That might be more worth the price tag for Ismay.
Did Ismay actually do something smart for once in hiring a good attorney? That just seems out of character.
I’m honestly surprised ‘I Got Beat by Bialota Votes’ hasn’t jumped on this case pro bono. It seems tailor-made for someone with a self-described ‘professionally trained paralegal’ background. This is exactly the kind of legal-adjacent adventure that falls somewhere between a Facebook investigation and a citizen’s arrest.
The way he talks in committee and on the house floor…I’m sure Krazie Katie and the imbeciles of Butte County actually thought it best to get a real attorney. Maybe this attorney can tell him that his first amendment rights were not violated when he gets thrown out for disruptive behavior in local meetings.
and this is why we can’t have nice things anymore. What happened to innocent until proven guilty, especially when even those crowing about this admit its likely much ado about nothing?
I submit every single farmer is guilty of doing exactly the same thing with good intentions, has had an incident and went back to level it off as well as possible ,many if not most probably every single year, damaging a soft gravel road with vehicle traffic, when the frost goes out or it gets wet and has damaged said road to the point that an vindictive person, especially one they have an ax to grind with, can submit a claim of damage. $5ooo , the “felony” level charge to convince the grand jury of a class 6 felony, is a low bar in the road construction world where millions per mile are the norm.Yes, historically I have leveled said bad spots off and yes a load of gravel later is the only fix…am I also now guilty of a felony?
I still have soft spots in the gravel road past my farm today and its been dry here for weeks. in some soils, especially west river, the only way to avoid road damage is completely closing the road for weeks each spring.
If our state of politics has deteriorated to the point that lawfare is going to be used to try to unseat a legislator who you disagree with, even in the election cycle when there is a legal process to replace legislators, we have reached a sad state of reckoning.
Lawfare?
He is alleged to have committed a felony. If Travis can’t do the time, he should not have done the crime.