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Jun 14, 2005 11:28 am US/Central
State Board Holds Hearing On Janklow Law License
Rapid City, S.D. (AP) ―
A disciplinary board from the State Bar of South Dakota concluded a day of closed hearings on Monday to determine whether former U.S. Rep. and Gov. Bill Janklow should have his law license reinstated.
Janklow resigned from his U.S. House seat in January 2004 after being convicted of causing an accident that killed a man. The felony conviction prompted the state Supreme Court to suspended Janklow's license to practice law in the state.
State Bar Secretary Tom Barnett said Monday's hearing was part of an evaluation process that automatically started when Janklow's state Supreme Court appeal concluded. Barnett said the board likely would file its findings and recommendations with the high court in four to five weeks.
The seven-member board is composed of six lawyers and one lay person appointed by the chief justice.
Janklow, a former state attorney general, South Dakota's only four-term governor and a first-term congressman, ran a stop sign 10 miles south of Flandreau on Aug. 16, 2003, and killed motorcyclist Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn.
A jury found Janklow guilty of second-degree manslaughter and reckless driving, and he served 100 days in jail.
The judge gave him a suspended imposition of sentence, which means the convictions will be erased from Janklow's criminal record if he fully complies with all terms of his sentence. Although the jury found him guilty, the suspended imposition of sentence means that the judge does not technically enter a finding of guilt.
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