North Dakota ethics rule changes address bad faith complaints

BISMARCK, N.D.(North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Ethics Commission adopted several updates to its complaint process Wednesday, including a change that allows complaints filed in bad faith to be dismissed.

The Ethics Commission investigates complaints related to potential unethical conduct by some state public officials and candidates. In response to concerns that bottlenecks in the complaint process were prolonging those investigations, the state Legislature passed a handful of policy amendments to state law last year.

Many of the changes approved Wednesday implement those amendments.

“I believe this is quite an accomplishment,” Ethics Commission Chair Cynthia Lindquist said during the meeting.

Legislators in 2025 directed the commission to create a process to handle bad faith complaints amid concerns that public officials were using complaints as a weapon to harm their political opponents.

The amended rules consider bad faith complaints to include those filed “to harass or impugn the reputation” of the accused.

Any complaints that fit this definition may be dismissed, the rules say.

Previously, the commission considered making bad faith complaints punishable by fines, though commissioners decided against it. Executive Director Rebecca Binstock said that this was because the state law that establishes the commission’s complaint process doesn’t say the body can penalize filers.

Commissioners also expressed concerns that fines could discourage citizens from reporting potential ethics violations, she said.

Additionally, the updated rules give people accused of ethics violations a formal avenue to request complaints to be dismissed. The accused can ask the commission to toss complaints on the grounds that they aren’t subject to the commission’s jurisdiction, that they don’t clearly state a violation, don’t follow the commission’s rules or were submitted in bad faith.

The amendments also allow the commission to informally settle ethics complaints directly with the accused. Previously, the board could only mediate informal resolutions between the accused and the filer, which were rarely successful.

Another update to the rules includes new time management standards for processing ethics complaints. The standards state that the commission shall dismiss complaints outside of its jurisdiction within 60 calendar days. It also mandates that the executive director report on the status of each complaint that has been pending for more than six months at quarterly meetings, and to report on the status of complaints older than one year at every regular meeting.

The commission as of Dec. 31 had 42 pending complaints. During the 2025 session, Ethics Commission staff also requested funding for an additional staff member to help carry the board’s workload. They noted complaint filings to the commission had risen significantly in recent years. The Legislature denied the request.

In its Wednesday meeting, the commission also discussed a new proposal to allow for public comment at future meetings. Commissioners are considering accepting in-person and virtual comment at meetings, as well as written testimony.

The commission indicated it will revisit the public comment proposal at its next meeting in February.

This story was updated to correct the nature of the complaint rule amendments.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer can be reached at msteurer@northdakotamonitor.com.