North Dakota
North Dakota House narrowly passes bill allowing babies to live with their mothers in prison
BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers barely passed a bill Wednesday, March 26, seeking to allow a women’s prison to create a nursery program where babies can live with their incarcerated mothers.
After a debate that lasted nearly an hour, Senate Bill 2352 passed the House with a 48-42 vote.
The legislation is likely to be reconsidered since 48 votes are required for a bill to pass and four members were absent or not voting Wednesday.
SB 2352 would authorize the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to allow children 18 months or younger to live with their mothers at the Heart River Correctional Center in Mandan.
The facility is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2027, when the program would be effective.
SB 2352 has the same intent of failed Senate Bill 2115, which was struck down by the Senate in January by a 18-29 vote. Opposing lawmakers cited concerns of the bill’s uncertain, but potentially large, fiscal note.
The bill has since been slimmed from eight pages to a few sentences. Its original language would have exempted prison staff from being held liable if the child was injured — unless those injuries resulted from a negligent employee.
Liability isn’t directly addressed in what remains of the bill, but it does require the department to enact policies to protect the child.
Costs associated with implementation are based on “future liability events,” according to its fiscal note, which lists $100,000 as a ballpark figure for the 2027-29 biennium.
Allowing mothers and their young children to live together is better for both parties involved, DOCR leaders and other proponents say.
During the Wednesday debate, 14 representatives voiced varying opinions about what’s more ethical and cost-effective: keeping babies with their imprisoned mothers or putting them in the foster system instead.
“I’ve had the honor and privilege of arresting some of those women,” TJ Brown, R-Fargo, said. “I cannot prioritize the incarcerated mother’s interest over the well being of the child; while babies may not understand their surroundings, a prison environment may have far reaching effects on their development.”
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
Other opponents said the bill is incomplete and lacks necessary statutory oversight to protect a baby by not addressing liability.
Supporters emphasized that the bill merely authorizes the DOCR to plan for the program ahead of the new facility opening, pointing to states where similar programs have shown to reduce recidivism rates and improve the health of both mothers and their babies.
Many supporting lawmakers also referenced their time visiting with mothers who are incarcerated.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
“Listening to the debate today, it (visiting the facilities) should be a requirement, not a wish,” Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, said.
“Yes, you can be honored to pick up somebody off the streets that’s on a drug-ravaged crime and think you’ve done your civic duty, but it’s a different person when they get to the Heart River facility,” Nelson continued. “These women don’t have the services that we have at the North Dakota state penitentiary. This is the hope that they look for.”
GRAND FORKS — A North Dakota composer’s dream is turning into a statewide invitation.
Williston-based musician Emily Black-Driscoll was chosen as the North Dakota Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer for 2026. She’s preparing an original composition that will premiere in August.
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North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
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