north dakota legislature

North Dakota House majority leader announces retirement from Legislature

North Dakota House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, speaks from the House floor during the organizational session on Dec. 3, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota’s House majority leader will not seek reelection this fall after representing the Dickinson area for more than a decade in the Legislature. Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, issued a…

Discussion series will examine North Dakota ballot measures

A voter fills out a ballot at the Hillside Aquatic Complex in Bismarck on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. Voters in the election defeated a measure to limit ballot measures to a single subject. A similar measure is on the ballot in 2026. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota groups have organized a series of discussions about…

North Dakota lawmakers to hire outside lawyers to defend state in term limits lawsuit

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota legislative leaders have voted to hire outside attorneys to represent them in a new lawsuit over a ballot measure that would change voter-approved legislative term limits. The suit, filed last week, argues that the Legislature violated the state constitution when it passed a resolution creating the ballot measure last year. The ballot measure, if approved, would alter the 2022 constitutional amendment that established legislative…

Lawsuit accuses North Dakota lawmakers of violating constitution with term limits ballot measure

Members of the North Dakota Senate meet May 1, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A ballot measure that would change voter-approved legislative term limits faces a challenge before the North Dakota Supreme Court. In a lawsuit filed last week, former Minot lawmaker Sen. Oley Larsen and Grand Forks County commissioner Terry…

North Dakota House passes free lunch bill, will next be debated on by senate

BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota House passed a bill on Thursday, Jan. 22, that would provide free school lunches to all students in the state. HB 1624 would provide free school lunches to every student in the state, regardless of income status. The bill, sponsored by 12 republicans and Representative Liz Conmy as the lone Democrat, will also allocate…

ND lawmaker who died last month remembered for marching with Martin Luther King, Jr.

BISMARCK, N.D. (KVRR) — A North Dakota man who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. is also being remembered. The family of Byron Knutson waited until the week leading up to the MLK holiday to announce his death. The Democrat and former North Dakota Insurance and Labor Commissioner died last month in Bismarck at 96. Knutson grew up in Benson…

Board approves $1.3 million in state investment employee bonuses

Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, listens to a presentation during a Jan. 16, 2026, State Investment Board meeting. Pictured at left is State Treasurer Thomas Beadle and at right, Rep. Glenn Bosch, R-Bismarck. (Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The State Investment Board on Friday approved about $1.3 million in performance bonuses to 12 Retirement and…

Lawmakers urge investment board to delay action on bonuses, citing lingering questions

Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, asks a question during a Dec. 10, 2026, legislative committee meeting. (Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) — Two state lawmakers have raised concerns to the State Investment Board that the $1.3 million in bonuses slated to go to the Retirement and Investment Office employees may be a violation of state law. Sen….

Financial disclosures for North Dakota officials, candidates now available for free online

Deputy Secretary of State Sandy McMerty speaks in opposition to a bill that would require reporting on the true source of funds backing political campaigns in North Dakota on Jan. 23, 2025. McMerty said her office does not endorse the use of dark money but that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is unconstitutional. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK (North…