North Dakota

North Dakota House fails to find consensus with Senate on start date of term limits

Published

1 year ago

April 28, 2025

North Dakota House fails to find consensus with Senate on start date of term limits

BISMARCK — The North Dakota House of Representatives on Monday, April 28, voted down a bill designed to set the start date for when lawmakers’ time in office starts counting toward their term limits.

House Bill 1300

was originally introduced by Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, to set the effective date of the legislation as Nov. 7, 2022. It was then amended by Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, to change the effective date to Jan. 1, 2023.

Under Myrdal’s proposal, lawmakers elected in the 2022 election would not have their time in office start counting toward their term-limited time until after their next election in 2026. Under Koppelman’s proposal, the term they were elected for in 2022 would count toward their time served for term limits.

Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, speaks on House Bill 1300, a bill focusing on legislative term limits, at the North Dakota Capitol on Friday, March 28, 2025.

Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune

Both argued that their chosen date would stand up better in court should term limits face litigation.

The House originally failed the bill when it was returned from the Senate amended. However, the following day, it was brought back and passed with the understanding that it would go to a conference committee and the House would have another chance to advocate for their chosen date. The Senate’s Jan. 1, 2023, date was decided on and returned from conference committee.

“This bill came to us here before. We killed it. And then they said let’s bring it back to the conference committee so we can keep our position,” Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, said on the House floor. “It doesn’t look like we kept our position, so I would ask for a red (no) vote.”

The House voted 61-28 to fail the bill.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008

, passed earlier this session, would make several changes to term limits, including setting the effective date for the start of time counted toward term limits as Jan. 1, 2023. Because the resolution would make changes to the state’s Constitution, it will go before voters as a measure before taking effect, likely on the 2026 general election ballot.

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North Dakota

North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9

Published

47 minutes ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9

On June 9, North Dakota voters will decide Constitutional Amendment 1, which would, if approved, create a single-subject rule for future constitutional amendments. A single-subject rule is a requirement for ballot measures to address a single subject, topic, or issue. Constitutional Amendment 1 would also establish a separate-vote requirement for legislatively referred constitutional amendments. This […]

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North Dakota

And he’s off

Published

11 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

BRECKENRIDGE — Coaches, teammates, friends and family gathered in the south parking lot of Breckenridge High School for another state tournament sendoff.

Friends, family, teammates and coaches joined Berndt for a photo before cheering him on as he rode off in the ceremonial convertible.

Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News

This year, it was Troy Berndt taking the ceremonial convertible ride. He is headed to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet on June 4-6.

Breckenridge track - Berndt, Erlandson and the Haires — Troy Berndt, left, give his supporters one last smile before embarking on his state journey. David Erlandson, next to Berndt, accompanied him in the convertible, and will be with him at the meet on June 4. Tom Haire, driving, and Christy Haire are in the front seats.

He will be running in the third heat of the 400-meter prelims, scheduled for 4:52 p.m. June 4. There are seven athletes in each heat, 21 total, and nine will advance to the finals at 6:20 p.m. June 5.

The top two finishers in each heat advance, along with the next three best times. Berndt’s personal best time of 50.67 has him seeded 13th, but the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-seeded runners are less than five hundredths of a second ahead of him. The eighth- and ninth-seeded runners are also close, at 50.33 and 50.39, respectively.

Berndt dropped nearly seven-tenths of a second from his previous personal best at the Section 6A West Subsection Meet on May 21, running 51.35, and shaved another 0.68 seconds off at the Section 6A Championships on May 28 with a time of 50.67. If he keeps lowering his time, he will have a shot at reaching the podium against the best runners in Class A.

Breckenridge track - convoy — Berndt and company taking their spot in the convoy behind Breckenridge Fire Department and Police Department vehicles.

Results and photos will be available online immediately following the race June 4 and in the June 10 print edition of the Wahpeton Daily News.

Corbin Lee is a sports reporter for the Wahpeton Daily News and Richland County News-Monitor. Corbin can be reached by calling (701) 291-3551 or emailing corbin.lee@wahpetondailynews.com.

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North Dakota

Today in History, 1971: Rugby repeats as North Dakota sand greens golf champion

Published

21 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Today in History, 1971: Rugby repeats as North Dakota sand greens golf champion

On this day in 1971, Rugby repeated as North Dakota’s high school sand greens golf champion behind medalist Dwight Stempson’s winning performance.

Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:

Rugby Repeats As Sand Greens Golf Champion

RUGBY, N. D. — Rugby repeated as North Dakota high school sand greens golf champion here Wednesday, posting a four-man total of 293 strokes for 18 holes.

Led by medalist Dwight Stempson’s medalist 36-35 — 71, the Panthers were eight strokes ahead of runnerup Stanley, which had a 301. Following were Garrison 311, Beulah 315, Leeds 322, Ashley 323, Bottineau 328, Pembina 329, Tioga 332, Parshall 341 and Hettinger 342.

See more history at Newspapers.com

Stempson and teammate Bruce Carlson each had one-under par 71s, but Carlson was unable to be at the regional and wasn’t qualified for individual honors.

Rounding out the Rugby totals were Delwin Wilson 40-37 — 77 and Dennett Hutchinson 35-39 — 74. Gary Kirchoffner, 41-39 — 80, was Rugby’s fifth entrant with the best four-of-five scores counted.

Runnerup Stanley was led by Steve Springan’s 34-38 — 72 and Joe Springan’s 36-38 — 74. Their two-man total of 146 strokes was good enough for the doubles title. Two strokes back with a 148 was the duo of Stempson and Wilson. Stan Saathoff and Mike Stepina of Garrison each had 76s for a 152 total and the Ashley combo of Steve Maier (76) and Dave Kretschmar (78) was fourth with a 154.

Stempson was the driving contest winner with a distance of 280 yards. Chris Knutson of Garrison headed the pitch and putt competition.

Ads featured in The Forum on June 3, 1971. Newspapers.com

Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.

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