North Dakota
North Dakota chief justice calls for higher pay for judicial staff during judiciary speech
BISMARCK — North Dakota Chief Justice Jon Jensen touted the effectiveness of the state’s court system while urging lawmakers to boost pay for judicial employees to retain top talent during his State of the Judiciary Address on Tuesday.
“The citizens of North Dakota desire the best judicial system available,” Jensen said. “Attracting and retaining dedicated individuals must be a priority.”
Senate Majority Leader Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot, said the Legislature approved 6% and 4% raises, and equity increases for judicial employees during the 2023 legislative session and said he was sure lawmakers would be providing more increases during this session.
Jensen said that a recent three-year study showed that North Dakota judges have the highest criminal caseload in the United States and are among the fastest courts in processing criminal cases.
The chief justice said that the judges, clerks, court administrators and juvenile court officers accomplished this feat despite facing challenges in the size of caseloads, subject matter and geography. The district courts handle roughly 180,000 cases per year and Jensen said that the judges are “judges of general jurisdiction,” meaning they are required to know every aspect of the law “from traffic violations to felonies.”
In regards to legislation, Jensen said that the judiciary would be supporting the creation of the Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship to provide better accountability for the $17 million in public funds that is spent on guardianship services.
Hogue said he supported the idea of assigning the judiciary the “overall responsibility to manage” the guardianship and conservatorship processes but did not comment on the proposed Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, said that she had not yet seen any bill that would create a new office or appropriate funding for the proposed office, but that she was looking forward to hearing more about it once it was introduced to her committee.
The chief justice said the judiciary is expanding problem-solving courts to include a veterans court in Fargo and a mental health court in Bismarck, while making jury service simpler by shortening the time jurors are on call and making it possible for jurors to request a postponement or an excuse from jury service online.
In a post-address interview, the chief justice said that the judiciary was also working on initiatives to automate some of the processes done in the state Clerk of Courts Office.
“It’s easy to fall behind on the technology side,” Jensen told the Tribune. “But in order to really provide the service that we should be giving to North Dakota residents and also anticipating folks that are going to be working in the judicial system in the future, we need to provide them with technology tools that are going to allow them to keep up with the rest of society.”
Jensen finished his address by saying the integrity of courts in the United States was being challenged by the people and that confidence in the judicial system was being eroded.
Jensen said that criticism of the justice system is not new; it’s understandable and can be helpful when a court has erred.
“However, recently, challenges to judicial decisions and judicial officers have — and criticism of judicial officers have — gone beyond understandable criticism to include threats of violence, intimidation, and even statements by representatives of our federal executive branch indicating an intent to ignore lawfully entered judicial orders,” Jensen said.
He noted recent threats against judges and court staff in the state, though he didn’t provide specifics.
The chief justice acknowledged that the separation of powers and judicial review naturally gives rise to tension between government branches but said North Dakotans are fortunate to live in a state where the separation of powers is respected.
“In North Dakota, judges can faithfully discharge their duties in the most difficult of cases with the comfort of knowing that both the executive branch as well as the legislative branch of our state government will respect the decision regardless of the outcome,” Jensen said.
“Likewise, our judges understand the need for separation of powers and will faithfully limit ourselves to cases and controversies, leaving the executive and the legislative branches to carry out their reciprocal duties,” he said.
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.
FARGO — Drivers can expect to see a slight uptick in gas prices as a result of the Iran conflict.
As of Monday, March 2, the average for North Dakota is $2.65 a gallon. While that is a $0.13 increase from a month ago, it is significantly lower than prices a year ago.
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GRAND FORKS – The Study ND, formerly Humanities North Dakota, has received $15,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for a statewide theater and humanities initiative in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
This commemorative investment is meant to bring historical events and figures – such as the framers of the U.S. Constitution – to life through virtual and live performances that celebrate the nation’s history.
The grant, along with funding from private sources, has made it possible for The Study ND to host “America 250” activities after the organization sustained a considerable cut in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities last year, according to Brenna Gerhardt, The Study ND executive director.
“We absorbed a 50% budget cut, resulting in a loss of $467,645 in funding,” Gerhardt said. “As a result, we had to significantly scale back our American 250 initiatives focused on American history and civics education.”
Funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts will be used to present public readings, theatrical portrayals and guided discussions to encourage audience members to reflect on the nation’s founding in 1776 and on its democratic ideals, while engaging in contemporary conversations about civic life.
All of the programming in the series organized by The Study ND, titled “American Heroes,” will be livestreamed statewide.
In the grant application submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts, “we framed the project around a simple idea: democracy requires more than information, it requires citizens who can think historically, listen well, and argue in good faith,” Gerhardt said.
“This series uses living history performances to bring consequential figures into the room, then turns the room into a civic space through moderated dialogue and related public events. We define ‘heroism’ as civic courage under pressure, the willingness to contend with hard truths, and the capacity to enlarge a community’s moral imagination,” she said.
“The project does not ask audiences to agree on a single interpretation of a figure. It invites them to grapple with complexity together, and to connect the past to the responsibilities of the present.”
When Gerhardt and her colleagues received the application for grant proposals from the National Endowment for the Arts, “we were already planning a line-up of America 250 events and it fit perfectly with what we were already planning, so then we just wrote the grant,” she said.
Private funds, including matching funds from the Bismarck-based Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, have also been provided for this project.
Details about all the events will probably be posted on the website
www.TheStudyND.org
in March, Gerhardt said.
The America 250 events, which are planned to take place at Bismarck State College, are 5-6 p.m. July 8, “Reading of the Declaration of Independence, with John Adams,” and 6-7:30 p.m. July 9, “Alexander Hamilton Speaks,” both performed by William Chrystal.
The Living History programs are planned for 7-8:15 p.m. Sept. 17, “Thomas Paine,” performed by Doug Mishler, and Oct. 6, 7-8:15 p.m, “Frederick Douglass,” performed by Nathan Richardson. Both will be moderated by Susan Frontczak.
The performers Chrystal and Richardson live in Virginia, Frontczak in Colorado,and Mishler in Nevada.
Another program, “Hemingway and Gellhorn,” is set for Sept. 16-18 at Bismarck State College, Gerhardt said. “It is part of our broader Chautauqua/living history programming connected to America 250 … (and) will feature performances and discussion centered on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, using their lives and writing as a way to explore major questions about American identity, war reporting, public memory, and the stories we tell about freedom, conflict and responsibility.
“What I am excited about with this event is that it gives us a way to approach America 250 beyond founding-era material. In other words, it helps us show the American story is not just about 1776, but also about the generations that followed and how Americans wrestled with democracy, power, truth and moral courage.”
This program “expands the initiative beyond commemoration into reflection, dialogue and interpretation, which is where the humanities are especially valuable,” she said. “It helps us reach audiences who may be drawn in through literature, journalism and performance, not only traditional history events.”
The Hemingway and Gellhorn program fits in with America 250 in that “it broadens the frame and adds depth to the larger effort.”
Gerhardt is hoping that these activities will give participants “a better understanding of all the debates and issues going on when our country was founded, and how those debates are continuing today,” she said, “and just to be more thoughtful and informed citizens.”
College students and members of the general public will also be invited to participate in a workshop aimed at teaching participants how to build a living history performance from primary sources and historical research.
Last year, The Study ND lost a substantial amount of funding – nearly $468,000, about half of its annual budget – from the National Endowment for the Humanities for its fiscal 2025 year.
The loss of that much funding was discouraging, Gerhardt said. “Very much so, because we had a lot of activities planned for America 250 and we had to cancel a lot of them, or – like in this case – seek other funding, which we were lucky to get.”
The Study ND currently has four full-time employees, she said. “We eliminated a part-time marketing position after the cuts.”
A nonprofit organization, The Study ND provides civics, arts and cultural education programming. The organization’s programs – which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more – reached about 24,000 people in 2024, Gerhardt told the North Dakota Monitor in April 2025.
During the summer, the organization hosts a civics education program for high school and middle school social studies teachers, she said.
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