North Dakota
North Dakota lawmakers work to update harassment policy
Lawmakers on the Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee meet July 11, 2024, at the Capitol. Pictured are, from front, Sen. Kathy Hogan, Sen. David Hogue, Rep. Glenn Bosch, Sen. Ron Sorvaag, Rep. Emily O’Brien and Rep. Dennis Johnson. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
By Mary Steuer (North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Lawmakers are reviewing the Legislature’s workplace harassment policy following a rise in complaints to the North Dakota Ethics Commission.
The policy, which dates back to 2018, outlines a process for reporting and investigating allegations of sexual harassment or discrimination-based hostility. It covers not just lawmakers, but legislative staff as well as third parties like lobbyists and media.
According to Emily Thompson, director of Legislative Council’s Legal Division, no allegations have been filed under the policy since it was adopted.
Still, she said the buzz surrounding recent complaints filed with the Ethics Commission prompted legislative staff and lawmakers to reevaluate the policy. The goal is to make sure the Legislature is prepared to handle harassment complaints if and when they do come up.
“When looking at the Ethics Commission and all of the different complaints that have been arising in media attention, we took a closer look at our policy against workplace harassment,” Thompson told members of the Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee last week.
The Legislature adopted the rules ahead of the 2019 session in wake of the #MeToo movement, said Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, who helped spearhead the policy.
“I went to find out what our harassment policy was, and we didn’t have one,” Hogan said in a Friday interview.
The policy puts legislative leadership in charge of receiving harassment complaints. There’s also a complaint form and a checklist to guide officials through the intake and investigation procedures.
Hogan said she’s interested in revising the policy to allow some complaints to be resolved informally, like through third-party mediation. That could help address minor disputes between members of the Legislature that don’t warrant a full investigation, she said.
“How do you screen the cases, the initial reports, to try and resolve them at the lowest level?” Hogan said. “That’s the kind of issue we’re beginning to look at now.”
Rep. Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, proposed adding a provision to allow complaints that don’t clearly state violations of the harassment policy to be dismissed.
There also was discussion over whether the policy should include greater protections for people accused of unfounded complaints. Currently, any records related to complaints would become public after the complaints are investigated, or within 75 days after the complaint is filed, Thompson said.
“What would happen if a review panel determined the complaint was frivolous, and the potential damage for reputation by it not being confidential?” said House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson.
Lefor questioned whether the complaint process should more closely mirror the Ethics Commission’s, which keeps most complaints confidential unless they are substantiated and the accused has an opportunity to appeal.
House Minority Leader Rep. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, said it may also be worth exploring confidentiality protections for people who come forward to report potential harassment
“I can share that in at least one instance, maybe two, where people came forward concerned about this type of behavior,” he said. “They stopped from moving forward with the process once they found out it was going to become public at some point.”
Committee chair Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, indicated the committee would work with Legislative Council on draft revisions to the harassment policy before its next meeting this fall.
The last time the policy underwent revisions was after the 2021 expulsion of former Rep. Luke Simons from the statehouse related to harassment allegations, Hogan said.
The Legislature added a provision requiring a panel of lawmakers to review the complaint within 48 hours after it is submitted, for example. Hogan said the committee is now considering softening that deadline.
“We wanted to be really aggressive,” she said. “We might have gone too far.”
The Legislature also expanded its mandatory harassment training, which takes place before each session, Hogan said. According to an agenda on the Legislature’s website, the 2023 training was an hour and 45 minutes and was combined with presentations on legislative ethics. That included a 15-minute presentation for legislative leaders tasked with receiving potential complaints.
Although there had been allegations of inappropriate behavior involving Simons dating back to 2018, no formal harassment complaints were ever filed, The Bismarck Tribune reported in 2021.
Legislative Council Director John Bjornson had kept notes about his discussions with staff about Simons.
In a February 2021 note, Bjornson wrote: “Clearly there is a major reluctance to file a formal complaint because they believe there is a lack of support from legislators for staff regardless of the knowledge that certain legislators are habitual offenders of decency,” the Tribune reported.
In a Monday interview, Bjornson said he’s hopeful the Legislature’s climate has improved in the wake of Simons’ expulsion.
“I think that people saw that there is some degree of discipline for someone that acts inappropriately,” he said. “We have not had any complaints filed, so it’s hard to tell.”
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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