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.