North Dakota
5 North Dakota Stories to Watch in 2025
Members of Legislative Management meet on Nov. 13, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota will start the new year with a lot of unfinished business from 2024.
Many of the state’s biggest stories from last year — including those related to taxation, abortion and incarceration — remain unsettled. State leaders could reignite public discussion of these issues as early as the 69th legislative session, which starts Tuesday.
Here are five state government stories to watch this year:
Property taxes
The ballot measure to eliminate property taxes based on assessed value put a spotlight on the property tax issue in 2024. Although it failed in the statewide vote, Measure 4 got the attention of legislators.
Expect several bill drafts related to property taxes in the 2025 legislative session that starts Tuesday. In November, Legislative Council reported it had already received dozens of requests to prepare bill drafts related to property taxes. Gov. Kelly Armstrong has also repeatedly said that property tax reform will be one of his administration’s top priorities.
Abortion
A judge last year struck down North Dakota’s law banning most abortions, declaring it unconstitutional.
In a September order, South Central Judicial District Court Judge Bruce Romanick found that women in North Dakota have a right to seek abortions until the point of fetal viability.
Summit pipeline
In 2024, Summit Carbon Solutions successfully obtained permits for the portion of its carbon dioxide pipeline and storage area planned for North Dakota. But the Iowa-based company still faces appeals from two North Dakota counties and a group of landowners.
Higher education
Bismarck State College, Dickinson State University and Lake Region State College will all be looking for new presidents in 2025, and the North Dakota University System also will be looking for a new leader.
Chancellor Mark Hagerott, who oversees the 11 colleges and their presidents, is stepping down at the end of 2025.
Inmate population
North Dakota’s prison system has been over its capacity for men since July 1, 2023, resorting to using county jails and a waiting list for some prisoners to get into a state facility.
North Dakota
The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor – North Dakota Attorney General
04 Mar The North Dakota Attorney General issued an opinion to the ND State Auditor
in Opinions
March 4, 2026
Media Contact: Suzie Weigel, 701.328.2210
BISMARCK, ND – It is the opinion that federal law does not prevent the state from auditing P&A and even though P&A possesses confidential records, N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22.1 and 42 C.F.R. § 51.45(c) authorize the state auditor and the employees of the auditor’s office, to review the records without detriment to P &A.
Also, whether Rule 1.6 of the North Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct for licensed attorneys prohibits P&A from disclosing to the State Auditor the contents of a client file for the purpose of conducting a non-financial performance audit under N.D.C.C. ch. 54-10 when the requested file includes information about individuals and businesses in the private sector who chose to contact P &A.
This issue was already addressed in a 1995 opinion of this office regarding P&A. The 1995 opinion highlighted that P&A has authority to contract with private attorneys to represent private individuals. 17 During that performance audit, auditors asked to see billings from the contracted attorneys. 18 P&A redacted the names of the individuals represented by the contract attorneys under the rules for attorney-client privilege or attorney-client confidentiality. 19 The names of individuals seeking services of P&A are protected under N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3. The opinion stated:
Thus, P&A’s records which indicate to whom its services were provided are available to the State Auditor for performance audit purposes. The State Auditor has
been given access by P&A to its records other than the attorney’s billings. Therefore, the State Auditor already has access to the names of the persons to whom P&A
provides services. State law requires that the State Auditor and his employees must keep such information confidential.
Here, P&A has not identified a specific record. Given that, I rely on the past opinions declaring that records made confidential by N.D.C.C. § 25-01.3-10 are available under N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22 to the State Auditor and the Auditor’s employees for audit purposes.
Link to opinion 2026-L-01
###
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A Wisconsin angler may have reeled in a new North Dakota state record yellow perch on Devils Lake.
Alan Hintz of Stevens Point, Wis., caught the fish while fishing with Perch Patrol Guide Service’s Tyler Elshaug. North Dakota Game Warden Jon Peterson weighed the perch at 2.99 pounds and measured it at 16.5 inches at Woodland Resort.
The current state record perch of 2 pounds, 15 ounces was caught by Kyle Smith of Carrington, N.D., also on Devils Lake, on March 28, 1982.
The catch is still considered unofficial. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department requires a four-week waiting period to verify all details before officially recognizing a new state record.
Steve Dahl with Perch Patrol Guide Service confirmed the details to Valley News Live. Dahl said overall perch numbers on Devils Lake are down this year, but anglers are seeing more fish weighing over 2 pounds.
Devils Lake is one of North Dakota’s most popular ice fishing destinations, known for producing trophy-sized perch.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
The Democratic Spirit: Reflections on North Dakota History and the Declaration of Independence at 250 – America250
A state and national public forum comprising a lecture, and then a question-answer session. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s lecture commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and explore its enduring significance in American life. Appiah’s scholarship on ethics, identity, and cosmopolitanism offers a unique lens for examining democratic ideals in a diverse society. By connecting these themes to North Dakota’s historical narrative, the forum fosters civic engagement, intellectual discourse, and cultural understanding within our community.
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