North Dakota Judicial Conference
Minutes
November 24, 2008
Kelly Inn, Bismarck, ND
Chair Doug Herman called the Conference to order at 9:00 a.m. Sally Holewa, State Court
Administrator, called the roll:
Judges of Supreme Court
Gerald W. VandeWalle
Dale V. Sandstrom
Mary Muehlen Maring
Carol Ronning Kapsner
Daniel J. Crothers
Judges of District Court
William W. McLees
Gary H. Lee
Douglas L. Mattson
David W. Nelson
Gerald H. Rustad
Douglas R. Herman
John C. Irby
Steven L. Marquart
Steven E. McCullough
Gail Hagerty
Sonna M. Anderson
Bruce B. Haskell
David E. Reich
Bruce Romanick
Thomas J. Schneider
Robert O. Wefald
Joel D. Medd
Karen K. Braaten
Sonja Clapp
Debbie Gordon Kleven
John T. Paulson
James M. Bekken
John E. Greenwood
Mikal Simonson
Allan L. Schmalenberger
Zane Anderson
Donovan Foughty
M. Richard Geiger
John C. McClintock, Jr.
Judges of Municipal Court
Robert A. Keogh
Julie Evans
Surrogate Judges
Ronald E. Goodman
William F. Hodny
Larence A. Leclerc
Burt L. Riskedahl
Kirk Smith
Attorney General
Wayne K. Stenehjem
Clerk of the Supreme Court
Penny Miller
Dean of the UND School of Law
Paul A. LeBel
Members of the Bar
Michael F. Daley
Steven J. Lies
Sherry Mills Moore
A quorum was declared and the business meeting proceeded.
Judge Medd made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2008 meeting, seconded
by Judge Paulson. The motion carried and the minutes were approved.
Chair Herman than called upon Judge Wefald to deliver the report of the Committee on
Legislation. Judge Wefald stated that the Committee on Legislation was not advancing any
legislative proposals this session. He called for discussion on the three bill drafts proposed by
the Indigent Defense Commission and indicated that he had no objection to any of them except
that the bill draft related to expunging records. He said it seems to run contrary to what the
Judicial Conference was attempting to do in the last legislative session when it sponsored
amendments to several statutes that eliminated the use of the word "expunge." Penny Miller,
Clerk of the Supreme Court, stated that following discussions with the Indigent Defense
Commission, it was her belief that the Indigent Defense Commission may not be pursuing the
legislation on expungement. Chief Justice VandeWalle agreed and stated that we will contact
Robin Huseby to discuss the matter and that the Supreme Court would track the bill even if the
Judicial Conference was not going to take a position on it.
Judge Wefald moved that the Judicial Conference take no position in regard to any of the
legislation being proposed by the Indigent Defense Commission. Judge Nelson seconded
the motion. A roll call vote taken:
Yes
Gerald W. VandeWalle
Dale V. Sandstrom
Mary Muehlen Maring
Carol Ronning Kapsner
Gail Hagerty
Sonna M. Anderson
David E. Reich
Bruce Romanick
Robert O. Wefald
Donovan O. Foughty
M. Richard Geiger
John C. McClintock, Jr.
Douglas R. Herman
John C. Irby
Steven L. Marquart
William W. McLees
Douglas L. Mattson
David W. Nelson
Gerald H. Rustad
Joel D. Medd
Karen K. Braaten
Sonja Clapp
Debbie Gordon Kleven
John T. Paulson
James M. Bekken
John E. Greenwood
Mikal Simonson
Allan L. Schmalenberger
Robert A. Keogh
Julie Evans
William F. Hodny
Burt L. Riskedahl
Kirk Smith
Wayne K. Stenehjem
Penny Miller
Paul A. LeBel
Michael F. Daley
Steven J. Lies
Sherry Mills Moore
No
Daniel J. Crothers
Gary H. Lee
Zane Anderson
Roland E. Goodman
Lawrence A. Leclerc
Steven E. McCullough
Present
Bruce B. Haskell
The motion carried on a roll call vote of 39 yes, 6 no, and 1 member voting present.
Chair Herman than called upon Judge Medd, Chair of the Jury Standards Committee, to discuss
that committee's proposed legislation. Judge Medd explained that one piece of legislation was to
increase the rate of jury pay to $50 for each day of service, with the exception for a first day of
service in which jurors are in attendance for less than 4 hours. In those instances, jurors will be
paid $25 for the first day of jury service. Chief Justice VandeWalle spoke in support of the
change but cautioned that there is a concern that jurors will begin to think of jury duty as
comparable to a job rather than as a civic duty. Judge Medd than turned to the next piece of
legislation and explained that it was intended to remove language that is antiquated and
inconsistent with current automated juror selection process.
Judge Medd moved that the Judicial Conference support the legislation as proposed by the
Jury Standards Committee. Judge Paulson seconded the motion. A roll call vote taken:
Yes
Gerald W. VandeWalle
Dale V. Sandstrom
Mary Muehlen Maring
Daniel J. Crothers
Carol Ronning Kapsner
Gail Hagerty
Sonna M. Anderson
Bruce B. Haskell
David E. Reich
Bruce Romanick
Robert O. Wefald
Donovan O. Foughty
M. Richard Geiger
John C. McClintock, Jr.
Douglas R. Herman
John C. Irby
Steven L. Marquart
Steven E. McCullough
William W. McLees
Gary H. Lee
Douglas L. Mattson
David W. Nelson
Gerald H. Rustad
Joel D. Medd
Karen K. Braaten
Sonja Clapp
Debbie Gordon Kleven
John T. Paulson
James M. Bekken
John E. Greenwood
Mikal Simonson
Allan L. Schmalenberger
Zane Anderson
Robert A. Keogh
Julie Evans
Roland E. Goodman
William F. Hodny
Burt L. Riskedahl
Kirk Smith
Wayne K. Stenehjem
Penny Miller
Paul A. LeBel
Michael F. Daley
Steven J. Lies
Sherry Mills Moore
No
Present
Lawrence A. Leclerc
The motion carried on a voice vote with 45 members voting yes and 1 member voting
present.
In other business, member Michael Daley reported that the Attorney General had recently
sponsored a CLE on E-Discovery. He said the conference material was available via CD and
interested persons should contact him to obtain a CD.
Judge Hagerty inquired as to whether appointments have been made to the Pattern Jury
Instruction Commission. Judge Herman indicated he did not recall receiving a request for
appointments. He said he would check into it and let her know the situation.
There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sally Holewa
State Court Administrator
Executive Secretary to the Judicial Conference