Springs school leader’s court date changed

WESSINGTON SPRINGS — The Wessington Springs superintendent who was charged with a misdemeanor driving offense about two weeks after a DUI conviction in Beadle County had his initial appearance continued from Tuesday to March 8.

Lance Witte, 41, was arrested Dec. 10 for driving with a revoked license, according to court records. If convicted, he could face up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

A state Highway Patrol trooper stopped Witte for speeding near Alpena and the trooper discovered Witte had a revoked license, said Casey Bridgman, Jerauld County state’s attorney.

The hearing was postponed until March because Witte’s attorney could not attend this week and the judge was unavailable in February, Bridgman said.

Witte received a suspended 30-day jail sentence and 90 days of probation for firstoffense driving while intoxicated on Nov. 23. A judge fined Witte $700 and revoked his driver’s license for 30 days, but allowed him to obtain a work permit. The incident occurred on Sept. 5.

Attempts to reach Witte for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. He apologized for his behavior in a recent edition of the online school newsletter. “I followed the instructions provided to me by my attorney to acquire a work permit and (it) seems that these instructions were inaccurate,” he wrote. “My intentions are to have this matter resolved as soon as possible.”

Witte has two previous DUI convictions that occurred in Brown County, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in May 1990 and in May 1993 for an April 1993 incident. A second-offense DUI charge in Brown County in October 1990 was dismissed.

Beadle County prosecutors could not have used his previous convictions to enhance last fall’s charge to a higher offense, Bridgman said. State law prohibits prosecutors from considering offenses that are more than 10 years old.

Mike Moore, Beadle County’s state attorney, said he would have to consider the underlying facts and the outcome of Witte’s latest case before deciding whether to pursue a motion to revoke Witte’s probation.

Court documents show that Witte was required to obey all state, federal and local laws for roughly one year as part of his probation for the DUI charge.

The school board continues to support Witte, President Pat Fastnacht said Thursday.

Board members discussed Witte’s DUI conviction at its December meeting, but have yet to address the latest charge. Fastnacht would not comment on any disciplinary action taken on the DUI conviction, saying that was a personnel matter.

“I want to see how it plays out and we’ll go from there,” Fastnacht said of the second charge.

He was not sure if the school district has a policy on administrators or staff convicted of crimes.

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