North Dakota
As bridge repairs add up, North Dakota might need to rethink approach, Gov. Kelly Armstrong says
GRAND FORKS — North Dakota has 1,325 bridges identified as needing repairs, according to a national report.
And of the 4,255 bridges in North Dakota, 11% — or 467 of them — are structurally deficient, according to data compiled and distributed by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. North Dakota ranks No. 10 nationally for structurally deficient bridges as a percentage of total bridge inventory, according to the ARTBA.
It’s a statewide problem that may require a new approach, Gov. Kelly Armstrong says, because “there is no way a local county can repair every bridge they have — especially in rural counties.” Some money exists for repairs, the governor said, but there just won’t be enough to fix all of the structures on the ever-growing list of projects.
Perhaps a better plan, according to Armstrong, is to rethink the state’s bridge grid.
“I think eventually the state and (affected) counties are going to have to work out what a 21st-century infrastructure looks like,” he said.
Because of the evolving way North Dakotans live and do business, the state could probably do with fewer bridges, he believes.
“You wouldn’t build the bridge infrastructure the same way in 2025 that was done in 1925. Nobody’s making a living on a quarter-section of land anymore; farming’s an economy of scale. Some of this is, replace the ones you need,” Armstrong said. “You’re going to have to make some tough decisions, particularly if you’re someone that lives on the north side of that bridge or the south side of that bridge and now has to go 6 miles out of their way.”
In northeast North Dakota, where numerous streams and rivers make their way into the north-flowing Red River, the number of bridges needing repair is especially high. For example, three of the top four most-traveled structurally deficient bridges in the state are in Grand Forks County, according to the ARTBA national report.
Atop the list is the Kennedy Bridge, which carries traffic on U.S. Highway 2 across the Red River on the north edge of Grand Forks. No. 2 is the Interstate 29 bridge over Grand Forks’ DeMers Avenue, followed by a Cass County highway over the Sheyenne River. At No. 4 is a rural I-29 bridge over County Drain No. 11, also near Grand Forks.
The long list of bridge repairs in the immediate Grand Forks area is enough to add a certain edge to Nick West’s job as Grand Forks County engineer.
“It’s a little stressful,” West said. “But it’s also rewarding when you can fix them.”
As reported in 2024 by the Herald, Grand Forks County has the most locally owned bridges of any county in the state, at 284. Of those, the county owns somewhere around 250 — the number changes every year, West said. He keeps a list of bridges that are most worthy of attention and tackles a portion of the list each year.
Grand Forks County Administrator Tom Ford says West is “passionate about his job.”
“He has a plan,” Ford said, “and he’s doing an excellent job prioritizing what needs attention. But you fix a couple of bridges, and as you fix a couple, other ones still on the list are aging. You just take it a bridge at a time and culvert at a time and be as responsive as you can.”
The end goal, Ford said, is to repair and fix the people’s infrastructure, “but we can only address what the budget allows,” he said.
West, Ford said, probably feels like he’s playing “Whac-A-Mole,” the old carnival game in which players use a mallet to try to strike fake moles as they poke their heads from holes in a cabinet. As one mole dives into a hole, another arises elsewhere on the board. Over time, the game has become a metaphor for attempting to complete a nearly impossible and frustrating task.
To reduce the number of moles on the board — or in a real sense, the bridges on the list — funding will always be the hurdle, Armstrong, West and Ford all say.
“I’d be lying to you if I said there’s enough (funding) to fix them all,” Armstrong said, adding that fixing all of the bridges “shouldn’t be the goal” if the state someday does rethink its bridge infrastructure.
So-called Prairie Dog funding — dollars derived from oil and gas tax revenues — has been used successfully for bridge repairs, West said. Operation Prairie Dog was created in 2019 as House Bill 1066, which made changes to oil and gas production tax distribution formula.
The bill’s passage provided a “new source of infrastructure funding for cities, counties and townships in non-oil-producing counties and airports throughout the state,” according to a description on the North Dakota Treasurer’s Office website. It allocates up to $250 million of oil and gas tax revenue per biennium to three buckets: municipal infrastructure, county and township infrastructure, and airport infrastructure.
More state money is coming, Armstrong noted.
“We did some things at the legislative session where they moved more money directly to (the Department of Transportation) through (percent of market value), and it allows for more money to be used locally, for more county projects,” he said.
During his January budget address, Armstrong touched on the state’s infrastructure concerns.
“We have construction needs, and our budget addresses them head-on,” he said during the speech.
He proposed a $464 million bonding package to tackle big projects like a new State Hospital in Jamestown; airport projects in Grand Forks, Dickinson and Fargo; and a military gallery at the North Dakota Heritage Center.
“To repay these bonds, we propose increasing the percent of market value, or POMV, which is applied to the Legacy Fund to calculate the earnings available for use every two years,” he told lawmakers.
At the time, the POMV was 7% of the average five-year balance of the Legacy Fund, he said. Armstrong suggested a 1.5% increase, half of which to be used for repaying the bonds for the hospital, airport and Heritage Center projects, with the other half to be used to support state and local infrastructure projects.
The Legislature did not go along with the 1.5% increase to a full 8.5%, but did approve increasing the POMV to 8%. A portion of the increase — 30% — will be used for highway infrastructure projects.
Still, the governor says, it’s important to think about what future travel trends hold for state infrastructure.
“The reality is, our job is to get (the state’s ag products) from farm to market as quickly as possible. What that looks like and what that future looks like is probably different than what people have lived (throughout the years),” Armstrong said. “We’ll fix some of them, (but) there’s no way we’re going to be able to fix them all.”
Prairie Business Editor Carrie McDermott contributed to this report.
North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump
North Dakota State playing in the FCS playoffs and College Football Playoff in back-to-back years? It’s likelier than you think.
That’s because on Wednesday, according to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to repeal a rule that effectively barred teams transitioning from FCS to FBS from playing in postseason games in their first FBS seasons. The Bison are making that move along with Sacramento State in 2026.
The reported change has been a long time coming; the rule has hampered teams from immediate bowl eligibility for decades. Its good intentions of dissuading teams from rashly making the FCS-to-FBS leap have been rendered obsolete in recent years by the fact that programs generally arrive in FBS more prepared than ever before.
Consider the number of new FBS teams that have had to work within the provision in the past decade alone
That list includes: Liberty (home for the holidays at 6–6 in 2018), James Madison (8–3 in 2022 under coach Curt Cignetti, and barely able to play in a bowl at 11–1 in ’23 due to a lack of bowl-eligible teams), Jacksonville State (8–4 in ’23 before backing in like the Dukes), Missouri State (7–5 in 2025, also backed in) and Delaware (6–6 in ’25, ditto).
James Madison in particular became a cause célèbre in ’23 because it started the season 10-0, climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in mid-November. Then-Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares bandied about suing the NCAA before the Dukes lost 26–23 to Appalachian State, an event that caused the program to back off and accept a bid to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. James Madison lost that game 31–21, by which time Cignetti had left for Indiana.
There was a time when the FCS-to-FBS jump was an imposing one, and the NCAA did not want to incentivize making it lightly—not even a proud Florida A&M program could make a mid-2000s attempt at a jump stick. However, the Flames, Dukes and other teams have shown it’s not so great a climb for programs with the right resources and management.
Now the Bison and the Hornets stand to benefit.
How far can North Dakota State and Sacramento State go in the near term?
The Bison opened 12–0 last year before a shock loss to Illinois State in the FCS playoffs’ second round, so that question may answer itself. North Dakota State does not play a single Power 4 team—a potential strength-of-schedule albatross if it has designs on really surging. A potential roadblock: the fact that the Bison have to visit the Mountain West’s two favorites, UNLV (Oct. 10) and New Mexico (Oct. 24).
It’s a different story for the Hornets, a 7–5 squad a year ago whose move to the FBS is widely seen as a gamble on their growth potential. Sacramento State also does not play a major-conference team, but has a breakneck travel schedule ahead of it—the Hornets will visit Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Muncie, Ind.; Mount Pleasant, Mich. and Honolulu. Combine that with a first-year coach—Oakland native and ex-MC Hammer choreographer Alonzo Carter—and it could be a long FBS debut in California’s capital.
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