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The North Dakota Supreme Court provides this website on the Internet for the benefit of lawyers, judges, law students, and other members of the public. The site's Internet address is
http://www.ndcourts.gov/. The site can also be reached by clicking on "Judicial Branch" from the State of North Dakota's home page (
http://www.nd.gov/).
The Supreme Court site contains more than 7,900 of its
opinions and the equivalent of 63,000 typewritten pages. New opinions are posted the day they are filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court notices of proposed rule changes are posted on the site. Current North Dakota Rules are on the site. The site also contains short biographies of Justices and Judges, argument and hearing schedules, and extensive links to other legal resources.
Lawyers, judges, and other members of the public may also subscribe at no charge to receive e-mail notices whenever new opinions are posted or when Court notices are posted.
The growing site continues to add information on Court (and joint Court-Bar) committees, as well as information on the judicial system for the general public.
The Internet
"The speed and power of the Internet continues to grow. The technology is available today for sound, action video, 3-D, and two-way voice communication.
The Supreme Court site is designed to use features that are generally available. Efforts have been made to design the site to work as well as possible for those with slower connections to the Internet.
Connecting to the Internet
Using the Internet requires a connection and a "browser." A direct hookup to the Internet provides the best speed. It is also possible to connect through a local Internet provider in the larger North Dakota communities (and many of the smaller communities as well). The on-line services, such as America Online, Prodigy and CompuServe, provide their own Internet connection with their own "browsers." Netscape and the Microsoft Internet Explorer are the most commonly used browsers. A browser lets you view web material on the Internet. The browser converts the Internet code into the graphical images you see on your computer screen.
A high-speed modem for your computer is an excellent investment and will make a noticeable difference in performance on most Internet connections.
The Supreme Court Site
The Supreme Court home page offers these choices: |
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OPINIONS |
"Opinions" is the heart of the website. Opinions are posted on the site from December 1965 to date. New opinions are being added as filed. The new opinions contain hypertext links (you click on them and go to the referenced document) to earlier opinions on the site (and some off the site) as well as to rules and biographies. Recent Supreme Court opinions are posted by month of issue and are listed with case summaries. There are listings of cases by names, topics, trial judges, Justice, North Dakota citation, and Northwestern Reporter citation, as well as a powerful Search function. |
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SUBSCRIBE |
"Subscribe" lets you sign up to receive e-mail notification of the posting of new Supreme Court Opinions, as well as other notices such as proposed rules, newly adopted rules, and matters being considered by some committees (such as the Joint Procedure Committee). You can follow the simple instructions to subscribe. You can also "unsubscribe" if you no longer wish to receive the notices. There is no charge for this service. |
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SEARCH |
"Search" the entire Supreme Court website, using a single word, or complex queries. |
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INDEX |
"Index" is an alphabetical outline of the Supreme Court. |
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GUIDES |
"Guides" provides information about the Supreme Court website and the judicial system. |
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LAWYERS |
"Lawyers" is the Directory of N.D. Licensed Lawyers. The listings are provided in alphabetical order, by N.D. cities, and by state for out-of-state lawyers. The listings include name, firm name, address, telephone, fax, law school, N.D. bar admission date, and, where available, a photo, e-mail address and web site. A "start letter" function will start a letter to the lawyer, inserting the date, lawyer's address, and salutation. |
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RULES |
"Rules"connects to Current Court Rules posted on the website. All North Dakota court rules are posted, including appellate, civil procedure, criminal procedure, evidence, rules of court, administrative rules and orders, admission to practice, continuing legal education, lawyer discipline, code of judicial conduct, local court, and professional conduct. Links are now being added to court-committee minutes reflecting the "rulemaking history" of the rules. |
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RESEARCH |
"Research" provides extensive links to North Dakota, States, Federal, and other legal resources available for free on the web. Recent opinions of the
United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal for all circuits, and many other state supreme and other appellate courts are available. You can also subscribe to receive free e-mail notice of filing of U.S. Supreme Court opinions. The searchable
U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations are excellent sites (although performance may be slow during peak usage). Both
West and
Martindale-Hubbel offer free online directories to find lawyers across the country. |
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"News" provides a chronological listing of news items and major updates and additions to the Supreme Court website. It's a good idea to check here when you visit the website. |
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CALENDAR |
"Calendar" contains monthly Court schedules of oral arguments and other hearings. |
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COURTS |
"Courts" provides extensive information on the North Dakota Judicial System:
"Supreme Court" contains a picture and biographies of the Court.
"Filing" contains information on how to file with the Clerk of the Supreme Court.
"E-mail" provides various Supreme Court e-mail addresses. Although documents cannot be filed by e-mail, the Clerk's office can provide guidance by e-mail, as can the library staff.
"Notices" of proposed rules, hearings, and rules adopted are posted here.
"Committees" provides information on many Supreme Court committees, including authority, members, chair, staff, agendas and minutes.
"District Court" provides District and County information including biographies of District Judges. "Counties" provides address and telephone information for district Referees and administrators, and for county Clerks of District Court, Registers of Deeds, Sheriffs, State's Attorneys, and Magistrates. |
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COMMENTS |
Clicking on "Comments" permits you to e-mail comments, questions, and reports of problems with the site to the webmaster. Suggestions on improving the site are welcome. The site will continue to evolve to better serve the lawyers, judges, and the other members of the public. |
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NORTH DAKOTA
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Clicking on "North Dakota" at the top of Supreme Court web pages takes you to the State of North Dakota home page. This provides links to the Executive and Legislative Branch sites. The legislative site provides biographies of legislators, committee assignments and the like. The legislative site provides access to bills, journals, hearing schedules and the like for a fee. Many Executive Branch offices are on the web. A virtual tour of the North Dakota Governor's Residence is one of the many features at the Governor's site. |
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SUPREME COURT
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Clicking on "Supreme Court" at the top of web pages takes you to the Supreme Court home page. Clicking on the the Great Seal on the Supreme Court home page takes you to the State of North Dakota home page. |
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Clicking once on the Great Seal on the Supreme Court web pages takes you to the Supreme Court home page. Clicking a second time on the Great Seal takes you to the State of North Dakota home page. |