North Dakota
Former North Dakota Deputy Attorney General Troy Seibel dies at 48
BISMARCK — Former North Dakota Deputy Attorney General Troy Seibel has died.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley confirmed the 48-year-old’s death Tuesday afternoon but additional information has not yet been released.
“I was informed this morning that Mr. Seibel passed away. He and I have not communicated since he departed this office in early 2022,” Wrigley said in a statement. “No additional information has been made available to me at this time. My prayers are with Troy’s family and loved ones.”
Seibel, a Mandan resident, served as the North Dakota labor commissioner under Gov. Jack Dalrymple. Former Attorney General
Wayne Stenehjem
appointed Seibel as his chief deputy in December 2016.
Stenehjem
died of cardiac arrest on Jan. 28, 2022,
according to his family. Wrigley was then appointed to succeed Stenehjem in February 2022. Seibel resigned a month later. Wrigley then
replaced Seibel with former Legislative Council attorney Claire Ness.
Days after Stenjehem’s death, his spokeswoman, Liz Brocker, deleted Stenehjem’s email account, an act that Seibel signed off on, according to reports, prompting a criminal investigation into the matter. Seibel’s emails were also deleted about a month after he resigned from the post.
In March 2024, Wrigley announced there would not be any
charges in connection with Stenjehem’s deleted emails.
However, Seibel began to face personal legal issues in late 2022 following his resignation from public office.
Seibel was arrested in November 2022 after a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper responded to a rollover crash at McKenzie Drive and the West Bismarck Expressway in Mandan. The trooper said he saw Seibel going 125 mph in a 55 mph zone before hitting a snowbank, according to a declaration of probable cause.
Seibel was then charged with driving under the influence of alcohol at more than twice the legal limit. At that time,
Seibel also faced charges stemming from a 2023 incident in Mandan
in which police responded to a hotel pool on Feb. 18 after receiving reports that a man was “making threatening, rude and sexual comments towards children,” according to court documents. A Morton County judge issued a warrant for Seibel’s arrest on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
In May 2023, Seibel pleaded guilty in Morton County District Court to the DUI charge. Prosecutors then agreed to stop pursuing a disorderly conduct charge filed in connection to the February disturbance. Prosecutors said that
as long as Seibel did not violate any laws and stayed away from the Mandan hotel for 360 days, the case would be dismissed and sealed,
but prosecution could resume if Seibel broke the conditions of the agreement. The charges no longer appear in the North Dakota court record system.
For the DUI, Seibel was sentenced to 360 days of unsupervised probation and ordered to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation and complete any recommended treatment for the DUI charge. North Dakota Department of Transportation records noted Seibel’s license was suspended at the time.
However, according to court records, Seibel never completed the chemical dependency evaluation that was ordered as part of his probation terms. A probation revocation hearing was scheduled for July 9, 2024, in Morton County but Seibel did not appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
Wendy Reuer covers all things West Fargo for The Forum.
North Dakota
Belquist, Romfo help lead North Dakota to 52-28 win over Idaho State
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Bo Belquist had a career-high 165 yards receiving including a touchdown, Simon Romfo threw for two scores and North Dakota rolled past Idaho State 52-28 on Saturday.
Belquist made eight catches, setting the Fighting Hawks’ Division-I record for career receptions. He started the day with 216 to snap the record he shared with Greg Hardin (2010-13). His 17-yard TD made it 45-14 late in the third quarter.
Romfo was 25-of-38 passing for 287 yards. He was intercepted once.
North Dakota (2-1), ranked 10th in the FCS coaches poll, led 14-0 after a first quarter that included Devin Hembry’s 92-yard interception return. One-yard runs by Isaiah Smith and Sawyer Seidl, the latter somersaulting over the line, and 10 more quick points after red zone turnovers led to a 38-0 lead in the second quarter.
Hunter Hays entered the game late in the first half and finished 18-of-23 passing for 206 yards and four touchdowns for the Bengals (1-2), who had four turnovers. Two of those TDs went to Jeff Weimer, who finished with 92 yards receiving on six catches.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Game and Fish offers aquatic nuisance species reminder for waterfowl hunters
BISMARCK – Waterfowl hunters should do their part in preventing the spread of aquatic nuisance species into or within North Dakota this fall, the Game and Fish Department said.
Hunters must remove aquatic plants and plant fragments from decoys, strings and anchors; remove aquatic plant seeds and plant fragments from waders and other equipment before leaving hunting areas; remove all water from decoys, boats, motors, trailers and other watercraft; and remove all aquatic plants from boats and trailers before leaving a marsh or lake. In addition, hunters are encouraged to brush their hunting dogs free of mud and seeds.
Cattails and bulrushes may be transported as camouflage on boats. All other aquatic vegetation must be cleaned from boats before transportation into or within North Dakota.
Drain plugs on boats must remain pulled when a boat is in transit away from a water body.
In addition, hunters are reminded of a state law that requires motorized watercraft, including motorized duck boats, operated on state waters and not licensed in North Dakota, to display an ANS sticker, including an ANS fee of $15 to be paid each calendar year.
For more ANS information,
including regulations, or to purchase the
ANS sticker,
visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.
North Dakota
What is the North Dakota Crime Victims Compensation Program?
WEST FARGO — North Dakota residents may have noticed advertising for the state’s Crime Victims Compensation program.
The program to help pay for innocent victims who are physically or emotionally injured in a crime has been around for decades, but the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which administers the funds, has recently stepped up advertising and outreach to educate the public.
The efforts are paying off, said McKenzie Clayburgh, a grants and contracts coordinator for the DOCR. In the six months she has been on the job, she has seen an uptick in victims applying for the funds.
“We are making a push to do more advertising to make the program feel more accessible, … more known,” she said. “I’d like more people to know about it and be able to get help if they need it.”
The program is used to help cover injury expenses when compensation isn’t available from insurance claims or restitution, according to the program’s website. That could include medical and mental health treatment, medications, funeral expenses, replacement services and loss of wages.
“We’re actually the payer of last resort,” Clayburgh said.
A victim can qualify up to $25,000 in losses, with some limitations. Victims of a terrorist act in a foreign country also can apply for the funds.
Victims have to report the crime to police within 96 hours, or four days of the crime or discovery of the crime. They also must cooperate with “reasonable requests” from law enforcement.
The victim must not have provoked or incited the crime, nor could they have been assisting in or committing a crime when they were injured.
They then have a year from when they reported the crime to apply for the funds through the state program.
Property loss or damage wouldn’t qualify, such as if a person broke into a car, she said.
The program was established nationwide in 1984 based on recommendations made by President Jimmy Carter’s Task Force on Victims of Crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Funds come from fines and penalties paid from convictions in federal courts. In North Dakota, roughly 3,000 victims accessed $2 million from the fund over the past five years, Clayburgh said.
The criminal system tends to focus on the offender, Clayburgh said, adding that the victim can sometimes be forgotten.
“I think that the crime victim compensation offers a way for victims to find healing and recovery through our program,” she said.
More information on the program and instructions on how to apply can be found at
docr.nd.gov/crime-victims-compensation
.
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