2025 State of the Judiciary Address Wednesday, January 8, 2025
2025 State of the Judiciary Address
On Jan. 7, 2025, North Dakota Chief Justice Jon Jensen presented the State of the Judiciary Address to the 69th Legislative Assembly.
Good morning.
Majority Leader Hogue and Majority Leader Lefor, thank you and all of the members of the 69th Legislative Assembly for the invitation to present the State of the Judiciary address to you, in the House Chamber, this morning. It is an honor to have this opportunity and a privilege to provide these remarks on behalf of the Judicial Branch.
Governor Armstrong, Lieutenant Governor Strinden, Justice Crothers, Justice McEvers, Justice Tufte, Justice Bahr, elected officials, and other distinguished guests—thank you for your service to the State of North Dakota and your attendance here today.
There are a number of new faces in the 69th Legislative Assembly, and despite the significant caseload within North Dakota courts, many of the people in this room are not likely to have had any interaction with our judicial system. With that in mind, I will take a few moments to describe how our judicial system is structured and how it functions.
In North Dakota we have municipal courts, state district courts, and the Supreme Court.
Our municipal courts have jurisdiction limited to violations of municipal ordinances, which may include Class B misdemeanors, infractions, and traffic violations. There are currently 87 municipal courts in North Dakota. Cities with a population under 5,000 are not required to have a municipal court and the municipal judge in those cities is not required to be law trained. Cities with a population greater than 5,000 are required to have a licensed attorney serve as the municipal court judge. There are no jury trials in municipal court; the criminal offenses are limited to Class B misdemeanors which have a maximum penalty of 30 days of incarcerations and fines up $1,500. Municipal court judges are elected officials who serve four-year terms.
Our district courts are where the majority of our workload is handled in North Dakota. We have 55 district court judges who are elected to serve six-year terms. Vacancies are filled by the Governor from a list of names provided by the Judicial Nominating Committee, or the Governor can require the vacancy to be filled by a special election.
There are currently 55 district court judges in North Dakota. The number of judges and their compensation is set by the Legislative Branch. The judicial branch would like to express its appreciation to the 68th Legislative Assembly which provided additional judgeships to serve the Northeast Central Judicial District and the East Central Judicial District. While the judiciary is a separate branch of our state government, the Legislative Assembly, through the determination of the number of judicial positions, compensation for those positions, and the overall funding provided to the Judicial Branch, has significant impact the quality of service provided to the citizens of North Dakota.
There are district court services in all 53 North Dakota counties. Our 55 district court judges serve, and are elected, within one of eight judicial districts. Those districts all include multiple counties. Our district courts have original and general jurisdiction in all cases except as otherwise provided by law. They have the authority to issue original and remedial writs. They have exclusive jurisdiction in criminal cases and have general jurisdiction for civil cases.
Our district courts would not function without our dedicated and hardworking clerk of court offices, court administration, and juvenile court officers. Our clerk of court offices are the engine that make our judicial system run. Our clerk of court offices are the primary contact the judicial system has with the public and every case entered into the judicial system flows through the clerk of court offices. The jobs are challenging with high workloads and the need to adapt to everchanging, but necessary, advances in technology. Our juvenile court officers work with some of the most difficult cases within our judicial system: children in need of services and juvenile criminal offenses.
In a time where the integrity of courts is being challenged and the confidence in judicial systems is being eroded, North Dakota’s court system and judges are remarkable. A three-year study on criminal case management that was recently completed shows that North Dakota judges carry the highest criminal caseload in the United States, and North Dakota courts are among the fastest courts in the United States to process criminal cases. Timely completion of criminal cases brings certainty and finality to the defendants, the victims, and their families.
Our judges, along with the clerk of court offices, court administration, and juvenile court officers, perform their remarkable work in the face of several
challenging caseloads, subject matter, and geography. Caseloads: Our district courts handle approximately 160,000 new filings and 20,000 reopened cases each year—180,000 cases. That is an incredible caseload for 55 district court judges and 53 clerk of court offices. As noted earlier, our judges carry the highest criminal caseload per judge in the United States. Subject matter: Our district court judges are judges of general jurisdiction. They are required to know and apply every aspect of the law, from traffic violations to felonies, from disorderly conduct to murder, domestic relations, juvenile cases, and every civil dispute requiring judicial resolution. In an age of specialization and narrow legal practices, our judges are required to interpret and apply the law in every area of practice. Geography: Our district judges are also challenged by geography. The North Dakota judicial system is committed to serving every citizen in each of our 53 counties. With only 55 judges our geography presents a challenge to provide access to the courts and local resolution of a case, but it is a challenge we have met and will continue to meet. The challenges faced by our judicial officers, high caseloads, the need to know and apply the law from every area of practice, and our state’s geography could not be overcome without dedicated and hardworking individuals. The citizens of North Dakota desire the best judicial system available. Attracting and retaining dedicated individuals must be a priority.
Being part of the judicial branch can be incredibly rewarding. We have the opportunity to share in the joy of adoptions and watch firsthand the successes achieved within our problem-solving juvenile, veterans, and treatment courts. However, the overwhelming part of our caseload requires the resolution of civil disputes and criminal proceedings. Those cases involve the dissolution of families, sentencing of defendants, listening to victims explain the impact a defendant’s action has had on them, and presiding over cases when juveniles are in need of assistance. It is necessary work, but not easy.
Members of the 69th Legislative Assembly, thank you for your willingness to serve your constituents and the State of North Dakota. You do not have an easy task. During the legislative session your will be required to consider what is, for me, an unimaginable amount of information. Despite the challenges you will be presented, you will, without a doubt, perform your duty with diligence and integrity. Your service is appreciated.
During your work this session you will be asked to consider legislation that has an impact on the North Dakota judicial system. The following items are among the legislation that you requested the Judicial Branch study during the interim or proposed legislation that will have direct impact on the judicial system:
As requested by the 68th Legislative Assembly, the Judicial Branch participated in a review of the guardianship and conservatorship programs spread out between several executive branch agencies and the Judicial Branch. We are supporting the creation of the Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship under the auspices of the court to better protect those under guardianship or conservatorship, and to provide accountability for the $17 million in public funds that is currently spent on guardianship services.
We have identified deficiencies and ambiguities in the municipal court process and have proposed a rewrite of those statutes. The purpose of the proposed statutory changes are to provide better service to citizens and accountability in the municipal courts.
Some North Dakota residents do not have access to legal services because of cost or geography. We are seeking to expand our self-help services by adding another attorney and creating the navigator position. A navigator can provide self-help services we don’t currently offer by reviewing completed documents. We are also exploring the recognition of “Allied Legal Professionals.” An ALP allows specially-trained non-lawyers to offer legal assistance in certain areas of the law.
We are also expanding problem-solving courts to include a veterans court in Fargo, a mental health court in Bismarck, and are exploring adding a domestic violence court in Bismarck.
We are making jury service simpler by shortening the time jurors are on call and creating an online service to request a postponement or an excuse from jury service.
Our mental health workgroup continues to work closely with the state hospital to streamline the evaluation process and decrease delays in case processing.
We also need your help in attracting and retaining individuals who are dedicated and capable of providing the judicial system the citizens of North Dakota deserve. You can assist by providing increased compensation for those individuals.
Earlier I commented on the unfortunate circumstances in our country that see the integrity of courts being challenged and the confidence in judicial systems is being eroded. Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court, in the annual year-end State of the Judiciary message provided insightful comments on this topic. Criticism and disagreement with judicial opinions is not new, is understandable, and when a court has erred, the criticism can be helpful. However, recently, challenges to judicial decisions and judicial officers have gone beyond understandable criticism to include threats of violence, intimidation, and even statements by representatives of the federal executive branch indicating an intent to ignore lawfully entered judicial orders.
We are not immune to these challenges in North Dakota. North Dakota judges and judicial branch employees have been the subject of threats of violence. The internet and social media platforms provide a forum for litigants to falsely allege that race, gender, ethnicity, or the perceived political affiliation of a judge was the reason for an adverse ruling and not the merits of the litigants’ case. Social media platforms are too often used to publish calls for violence and threats of intimidation against judges. As noted previously in these remarks, while public scrutiny and at times displeasure of a particular judicial decision are understandable, violence and intimation should not be tolerated.
The separation of powers and judicial review naturally give rise to tension between the branches of our state government. We are fortunate to live in a State where our political leaders and elected officials understand the importance of protecting the separation of powers and the necessity of judicial review. Our judges can faithfully discharge their duties in the most difficult of cases with the comfort of knowing that both the executive branch and the legislative branch of our state government will respect the decision regardless of the outcome. Likewise, our judges understand the need for a separation of powers and must faithfully limit ourselves to cases and controversies, leaving the executive and legislative branches to carry out their reciprocal duties.
Members of the 69th Legislative Assembly, thank you again for your service. Best wishes for a productive legislative session. And finally, thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
Download a video recording of the State of the Judiciary Address: https://www.ndcourts.gov/Media/Default/court-administration/State-of-the-Judiciary/2025-State-of-the-Judiciary.mp4