north dakota legislature

Ethics Commission highlights time management in annual report

Rebecca Binstock, left, executive director of the North Dakota Ethics Commission, Logan Carpenter, center, general counsel for the Ethics Commission, and Alisha Maier, right, operations manager for the Ethics Commission, listen during a committee hearing on Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A new report shows that Ethics Commission complaints that don’t…

Early work underway to establish public charter schools in North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota won’t see any charter schools open this year, but state education officials are busy behind the scenes laying the groundwork for next year. Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 2241 during the 2025 session that authorized public charter schools in North Dakota, leaving South Dakota, Nebraska and Vermont as the only states without a…

Higher education board chair favors keeping interim leader of North Dakota colleges

Tim Mihalick, right, chairs a North Dakota State Board of Higher Education meeting in Bismarck on May 29, 2025. Next to Mihalick is interim chancellor Brent Sanford. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The chair of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education said Thursday that he will propose giving interim Chancellor Brent Sanford…

New legislative committee seeks to advance solutions for strained rural emergency services

Firefighters from the West Fargo Rural Fire Department take part in a fire safety demonstration on Sept. 10, 2024, in West Fargo, North Dakota. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota fire departments and ambulance services are understaffed and facing financial constraints while at the same time responding to more calls and serving large…

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe hosts North Dakota officials

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Chair J. Garret Renville speaks Aug. 19, 2025, to the North Dakota Tribal and State Relations Committee at Dakota Magic Casino near Hankinson, North Dakota. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)HANKINSON, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribal nation met Tuesday with North Dakota officials and legislators, an event the tribal chair said “demonstrates…

Grand Forks lawmaker resigns to join North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services

State Rep. Emily O’Brien, R-Grand Forks, speaks to other lawmakers during a meeting of the Legislative Management Committee on Nov. 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Rep. Emily O’Brien, R-Grand Forks, is leaving her legislative seat to become second-in-command at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. O’Brien starts her new…

Poll: Voters want to tap Legacy Fund, with limits

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota News Cooperative) — Most North Dakotans support using the state’s Legacy Fund to reduce property taxes even further and to pay for school lunches at public schools, but draw the line at using the sovereign wealth fund to cover private school vouchers, North Dakota Poll data shows. Of those three, state legislators have only tapped into…

North Dakota lawmakers weigh new legislation after governor veto confusion

Emily Thompson, right, legal division director for Legislative Council, speaks during a committee meeting next to John Bjornson, director of Legislative Council, on Aug. 13, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Lawmakers are considering a bill to clarify the legislative veto process after Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s office appeared to accidentally line-item veto housing funding in May….

New law will cite owners of vehicles that flee from police and local attorney says this is ‘unconstitutional’

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) -The North Dakota legislature enacted a new law that allows citations to be issued to the owner of a vehicle for fleeing police. The citation is issued if the owner declines to tell police who was driving at the time of the pursuit. “I think it’s largely going to be ineffective. I think it was ill-conceived, it…

North Dakota Legislature to boost program oversight with new hires

John Bjornson, right, director of Legislative Council, speaks during a meeting of the Legislative Management Committee next to Emily Thompson, center, director of the Legal Division of Legislative Council, and Allen Knudson, left, legislative budget analyst and auditor for Legislative Council, on June 26, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Legislature is adding…