Donovan J. Foughty

Judge Foughty was elected as District Court Judge in 1995 for the Northeast Judicial District #4 located in Devils Lake, ND.  He was then re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014.  

Born in 1955; Judge Foughty is a native of Devils Lake, ND.  Judge Foughty earned his Bachelors of Administration from the University of North Dakota and received his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1983.  He was admitted to the N.D. Bar on September 29, 1983. 

Judge Foughty began his judicial career by election to the county bench in 1987.  He has also served as trial judge in tribal courts in North Dakota and as an appellate court judge for tribal nations in Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.   He co-chaired the Tribal/State Court Forum in North Dakota, with a final published report being submitted to the North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice in December of 1993.  He is past chair of the standing Committee on Tribal and State Court Affairs.  He is a past chair of the Judicial Conduct Commission. 

Judge Foughty co-chaired the North Dakota Commission to study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the courts, submitted a final published report to the North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice in June of 2012.  He is past chair of the Minority Justice Implementation Committee.   He is the current President of the board of directors of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.  The Secretariat for the Consortium is the National Center for State Courts.  He sits on the Justice Commission for the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, and advisory group to the nation's court system.  He is on the advisory board for the Spirit Lake Tribe Senior Services Elder Protection Program.