North Dakota
North Dakota bill requiring inmates to serve 85% of prison time draws heated, lengthy debate
BISMARCK — A North Dakota bill that would ensure defendants serve at least 85% of their sentences drew hours of impassioned testimony and debate over whether it would deter crime and promote public safety or simply crowd prisons at a high cost.
Over the course of several hours, the North Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday for and against
Senate Bill 2128.
Attorney General Drew Wrigley
proposed the legislation,
which would require offenders to serve 85% of their sentence before they qualify for release, also known as “truth in sentencing.”
It also would ensure sentences for resisting arrest, simple assault on a peace officer and fleeing are served on top of other crimes. The minimum sentence for resisting arrest would be 14 days in jail, while assault and fleeing would get at least 30 days.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
The bill is Wrigley’s
second attempt in as many legislative sessions
to set minimum sentences. Language has been cut back from the bill in 2023, which went through a whirlwind of changes before its ultimate defeat.
The main difference is the 85% rule, which Wrigley said would create across-the-board reform.
“Senate Bill 2128 offers you the opportunity to right this wrong, which has evolved over years, and to bring truth to sentencing transparency,” he said.
Testimony got lengthy and heated, mostly on Wednesday when opponents of the bill spoke. Studies suggest minimum and truth in sentencing laws do little to reduce crime.
“It’s just a failed policy,” said Travis Finck, executive director for the North Dakota Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents.
It’s unclear how much the bill will cost, as amendments are expected to reduce initial estimates.
The bill would eliminate parole eligibility for every North Dakota prisoner, said North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Colby Braun. Only those who do not get early release for good behavior and exceed 85% would qualify, he said.
“It ignores research and places the fiscal burden on taxpayers by focusing solely on prison capacity while eliminating reentry opportunities for most adults in custody,” Braun said.
Time not served behind bars
Crime has increased over the years, Wrigley said in arguing that his bill would hold those who confront law enforcement accountable. Fleeing, resisting and assault on officers often is served concurrently with other offenses, he said.
“It is a freebie, and it is a slap in the face to every man and woman who wears a uniform in this state that has watched misconduct toward them increase over the last decade or more,” Wrigley said. “All our legislation asks is for that to not be a freebie.”
The North Dakota Chiefs of Police Association and North Dakota Peace Officers Association supported the bill.
Bismarck Police Deputy Chief Jason Stugelmeyer said he has noticed a dramatic increase in officer assaults since 2020. He said the streets are more violent than when he started policing 24 years ago because people are not afraid to confront officers.
Darren Gibbins / The Bismarck Tribune
“Thank God, it’s not serious most of the time, but it’s crazy,” he said. “I sometimes hear we can’t arrest our way out of it, and maybe some of that is true, but we need a deterrent.”
Fleeing law enforcement also has increased significantly, Stugelmeyer said.
Finck noted Bismarck has a limited chase policy. Defendants know if they flee at a high rate of speed, police will terminate the chase in some instances, he said.
That suggests suspects flee because they think they will not get caught, not because they know they will not be punished.
The public thinks there is “truth in sentencing,” but defendants are serving a fraction of their punishments behind bars, Wrigley said.
“There is precious little predictability,” he said. “Forget about truth in sentencing.”
Truth in sentencing is needed to ensure punishments are being served, Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Dennis Ingold said. Among several examples, he noted that a defendant he prosecuted got a two-year sentence for bringing drugs from Michigan to North Dakota.
The defendant only served 55 days behind bars, Ingold said. That included 20 days in jail the defendant served while awaiting sentencing, the prosecutor said. The defendant spent 35 days in prison before being moved to a halfway house, Ingold noted.
Brad Nygaard / The Bismarck Tribune
“If you look at true days served, that’s 7.5%,” Ingold said.
The DOCR would count the amount of time served as 50%, since he served six months in the halfway house plus early release time for good behavior, Ingold said.
“I know the argument is going to be that these are outliers, but these are real cases,” he said.
Data from the DOCR suggests the average time an inmate serves at one of its facilities is 50%, but that includes prison and transitional centers.
Early releases happen because North Dakota does not have a minimum standard for how much time must be spent behind bars, Ingold said.
“From a prosecutor’s perspective, we are using up a lot of resources prosecuting people who are still subject to DOCR sentences at the time that we encounter them,” he said.
Transitional facilities are used to integrate inmates back into society before fully being released from custody. People can leave for several hours, but they have to come back to custody, Finck said.
Inmates at the Bismarck Transition Center have to have a job, Administrator Kevin Arthaud said. About 100 people at the facility are inmates, while roughly 20 are on parole, he said.
“We are trying to make people ready for release,” he said.
There is structure at the facility with few walk-aways, or escapes, Arthaud said. SB 2128 would eliminate opportunities for inmates to use the center to prepare for society, he said. That means the facility likely would shut down, and local businesses who employ center inmates would lose those workers, he said.
Minimum mandatory sentencing laws do not reduce crime or recidivism, said Andrew Myer, a criminal justice professor at the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute.
“For deterrence to work, we need three things to happen,” he said. “We need certainty, which means that the person will be arrested or caught for their crimes, we need celerity, that the punishment will happen quickly, and we need severity, that the punishment is at an appropriate level.”
He said minimum sentencing laws are costly and impact prison safety. Studies show that individuals serving time with minimum mandatory punishments have more disciplinary infractions in prisons, Myer said.
Minimum sentencing laws also can lead to overcrowding, which can put inmates and correctional workers in danger, he said. State prisons and local jails have been
pushed to their capacity limits,
and opponents of SB 2128 said the proposed legislation would create more inmates, as well as force them to stay longer.
Multiple groups, including out-of-state organizations, testified against the bill. That included the North Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Prison Fellowship from Lansdowne, Virginia, and the Due Process Institute of Washington, D.C. Several cited increased costs to both the prison and judicial systems.
“What about the cost to the public?” said Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, adding she is concerned about the safety of her constituents.
Transitional and treatment centers have helped give felons second chances and opportunities to reinvent themselves, F5 Project CEO and founder Adam Martin said. He himself benefited from such programs when he was convicted of crimes.
“Based on the philosophy of truth in sentencing, I should have never gotten it,” he said, adding he would have served lengthy prison sentences.
Anna Paige / The Forum
Instead, he has never been to prison. He started an organization that helps people who struggle with incarceration, and Martin ultimately
was pardoned of his crimes in North Dakota.
The F5 Project has helped more than 40,000 people, he said.
Had he gone to prison, he believes he would not have gotten those opportunities, Martin said. Blanketing sentences will not benefit anyone, he said.
“I do believe what the speaker earlier said about mercy and grace. It works,” Martin said.
BISMARCK — Landowners in Dickey, LaMoure and Stutsman counties made their plea to the North Dakota Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 23, to fight a massive powerline project.
The 90-mile-long “Jamestown to Ellendale” transmission line, also known as JETx, would use towers up to 150 feet tall.
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March 31, 1957 – June 5, 2026
Timothy Paul Ganyo, 69, passed away on Friday, June 5, 2026, after a courageous six-and-a-half-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer.
Tim was born on March 31, 1957, in Grafton, North Dakota, to Willard Paul and Marlene Frances Ganyo. He grew up in Grafton, where he attended school and was active in both hockey and football. During his high school years, he also worked as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.
Tim proudly served his country for more than three decades. He enlisted in the United States Air Force on December 4, 1977, and served until 1981, with an assignment at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Following his active-duty service, he joined the Air National Guard while attending North Dakota State University. Later, seeking a new opportunity, Tim joined the Air Force Reserve and relocated to Northern California, where he served at Travis Air Force Base as a flight engineer aboard the C-5 aircraft.
Throughout his distinguished military career, Tim was activated numerous times and served in support of multiple military operations around the world, often flying into war zones. He treasured the friendships he made with his fellow airmen and took great pride in serving alongside the members of the 312th. Tim retired from the United States Air Force Reserve on June 1, 2010.
Committed to lifelong learning, Tim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology in August 2003. Following his military retirement, he worked in the laboratory at Shell Oil Company in Martinez, California.
Tim spent more than 40 years in Northern California, where he met his wife, Roxanne. They shared 34 wonderful years of marriage. He was a devoted husband, a supportive stepdad, and a loving grandpa who cherished time spent with his family.
Tim was a passionate fan of University of North Dakota hockey and proudly remained loyal to the Fighting Sioux throughout his life. He was also a member of the Solano Yacht Club and enjoyed the friendships and camaraderie he found there.
Tim is survived by his mother, Marlene Dvorak; his beloved wife, Roxanne Ganyo; his stepchildren, Ryan Brown, Chad (Tonya) Brown, Jaime Wolf (Dave), and Kristy Brown (Devin); his grandchildren, Calleigh Brown, Jaxon Brown, Taya Wolf, and Jordyn Brown; his brothers, Mark (Rhonda) Ganyo and Michael Ganyo; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father, Willard Paul Ganyo; and his brothers, Ray Ganyo and Philip Ganyo. Tim will be remembered for his strength, dedication, patriotism, sense of adventure, and unwavering love for his family and friends. His presence will be deeply missed and forever cherished by all who knew him.
Family and friends are invited to attend a funeral service on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at Bryan-Braker Funeral Home Chapel, 1850 West Texas Street, Fairfield, CA
A ceremony with military honors will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, California, where Tim will be laid to rest.
GRAND FORKS — A Grand Forks man is working to overturn his conviction for killing his friend.
Donald Bartlette’s attorney, Kiara Costa Kraus-Parr, wants the North Dakota Supreme Court to declare a mistrial when he was found guilty of manslaughter in the October 2024 death of Tony Kiehl.
During a hearing Monday, June 22, Costa Kraus-Parr said prosecutors unfairly made jurors biased against Bartlette at trial in August of last year.
That includes referencing past drug use and testimony from a witness who called Bartlette a bully.
That testimony was objected to, and the objection was sustained.
Bartlette was found guilty of manslaughter and was later sentenced in December to 10 years in prison.
Bartlette, 46, maintains Kiehl, 49, came at him with a knife and he acted in self-defense.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
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