(North Dakota Monitor) –BISMARCK, N.D.– A West Fargo attorney will be the next member of the North Dakota Ethics Commission.

The Ethic Commission selection committee on Tuesday named Lisa Edison-Smith to fill an open position on the five-person commission.

Edison-Smith will replace Ron Goodman, who is retiring. Her term will expire in August 2027.

Edison-Smith is an employment and labor attorney with the Vogel Law Firm but plans to retire by the end of the year, according to a questionnaire she filled out for the selection committee. She also has served as a mediator.

She is a graduate of North Dakota State University and the Hamline School of Law.

Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, one of three members of the selection committee, said the committee was impressed with her resume and her interview.

“She made it clear that she’s an independent thinker and she’s not afraid to lead, which includes the ability to dissent,” Hogue said. “So to me, that was important.”

In her questionnaire answers, Edison-Smith said the commission should not usurp the Legislature’s lawmaking authority but adopt rules and conduct investigations in accordance with state law.

She also said it is important for Ethics Commission staff to review “facially deficient or frivolous complaints” and for the commission to dismiss those cases in 60 to 90 days.

The other finalist was North Dakota Insurance and Securities Department attorney Garrett Bryan.

The selection committee, composed of Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Hogue, R-Minot, and Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, also recently named Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben to a spot on the commission.

The Ethics Commission’s duties include adopting ethics rules, investigating alleged violations and issuing advisory opinions to help public officials navigate ethical issues. They are paid a stipend for every day they meet, plus reimbursement for travel.

North Dakota voters in 2018 passed a measure to establish the Ethics Commission.

BISMARCK, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Tuesday requested a presidential major disaster declaration following a pair of severe storms that caused more than $4.6 million in damage across seven North Dakota counties.

Armstrong submitted the request through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking federal public assistance funding to help cover the cost of repairing and replacing damaged public infrastructure.

The storms struck June 7-9.

The first round, on June 7, produced a derecho-like wind event with straight-line winds estimated between 80 and 100 mph. Two days later, supercell thunderstorms brought tornadoes, baseball-sized hail, and additional damaging winds.

“Just as communities were starting to clean up from the first round of storms on June 7, another round hit two days later, compounding the damage and complicating response and recovery for our citizens,” Armstrong said. “We appreciate the administration considering this request to help cover the cost of significant damage to public infrastructure from this one-two punch.”

The storms knocked out power to more than 25,000 people, toppled trees, and caused widespread damage to homes, businesses, and public utilities. Preliminary damage estimates to public facilities, including debris removal, exceed $4.6 million.

Armstrong declared a state disaster on June 30 in response to the storms.

The federal request covers seven counties: Bottineau, Burke, Divide, McLean, Mercer, Oliver, and Williams. A presidential major disaster declaration would make FEMA public assistance available to eligible applicants in those counties.

BISMARCK — Crime in North Dakota is at a low not seen in more than a decade, but the state’s top law enforcement official continues to

push for a law requiring violent criminals to serve larger portions of their sentences,

noting violent crime remains high.

North Dakota recorded 42,594 offenses last year, according to a report released Tuesday, July 7, by the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office. That’s about 7% down from 2024 and an 18% decline from 2021, which had an all-time high of 51,784 crimes, according to the state office.

Last year’s total crime number is the state’s lowest since 2014, when state officials reported 42,968 offenses. Crime per 100,000 residents was 5,323 in 2025, down from 6,682 in 2021 and 6,348 in 2016, according to the office.

“We have some modest declines, but they are declines,” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said during a press conference in Bismarck.

Wrigley’s office collects crime data from all law enforcement agencies across the state. Some statistics in the 2025 report are “less alarming,” Wrigley said. He focused on violent crime, which declined 3% from 2024 to 11,913 offenses last year, the report said.

The report defined violent crime as murder, manslaughter, assault, intimidation, stalking, kidnapping, abduction, sex offenses, commercial sex acts, involuntary servitude and robbery.

The 2025 numbers are at a five-year low; law enforcement agencies reported 12,246 violent crimes in 2021. Last year’s numbers are 22% higher than 2016’s report of 9,787.

Violent crime hit a high in 2023 with 12,601 offenses, according to Wrigley’s office. He described the last five years as a “plateau.”

Overall, the increase is a “dramatic failure” that is not being addressed, he said.

“We have to ask ourselves: Is this an acceptable new norm?” Wrigley asked.

Crimes against persons uses a federal definition that only includes murder, manslaughter, rape and assault. North Dakota had 11,765 offenses last year, down 3% from 2024 and 2% from 2021. Last year’s numbers are up 23% from 2016.

The state reported 1,472 crimes against persons offenses per 100,000 residents last year, down from 1,556 in 2021 but up from 1,267 in 2016, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Wrigley used the press conference to argue for “truth-in-sentencing” reforms in North Dakota. The attorney general has twice proposed legislation that would require certain offenders to serve a portion of their sentence in a prison, instead of being released to minimum custody or transitional facilities.

During the 2025 legislative session, the North Dakota House killed Senate Bill 2128. The legislation

would have required

violent criminals, drug traffickers and sex offenders to serve at least 50% of their sentences before qualifying for early release. The bill in its original form also would have set minimum sentences for simple assault against law enforcement, fleeing and preventing arrest.

The bill attracted lengthy debate through the session, with opponents saying it would clog prisons and cost the state more money. Transitional facilities help inmates develop skills that allow them to return to life outside prison, ultimately reducing recidivism, according to North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Colby Braun.

Wrigley promised to push for “truth-in-sentencing” and more transparency surrounding decisions to release inmates and recidivism rates, calling current policy a “fundamentally flawed system” that needs to be corrected.

Wrigley noted Minnesota requires certain offenders to serve two-thirds of sentence before they are released. Other states have eliminated parole boards, he said, though he added he wasn’t suggesting North Dakota dissolve its own.

Releasing repeat offenders early, Wrigley said, is not acceptable to victims and law enforcement.

“It has to be corrected on behalf of the victims in the state, the ones who have already been victimized and the victims who are to come,” he said. “There needs to be integrity in sentencing.”

Property crimes have dropped dramatically over the last decade, from 26,082 in 2016 to 19,135 last year (27%), according to the Attorney General’s Office. Crimes against society — prostitution, drug and weapons violations, and child sex abuse material cases — also have trended down about 6%, from 12,427 in 2016 to 11,649 last year

Wrigley noted a “troubling” trend in driving under the influence numbers. Last year, law enforcement arrested 4,618 motorists on suspicion of drunken driving, up 14% from 2021, according to Wrigley’s report.

That’s still down 15% from 2015, when the state had 5,406 DUIs. The increase over the last five years is disappointing since North Dakota has spent time educating the public about the dangers of drinking and driving, Wrigley said.

“It can’t be ignored at this point,” he said.