North Dakota Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in North Dakota, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Does a North Dakota public entity violate open records law by failing to answer a request it never received?
No, on the facts the Attorney General was required to use. The Dickey County Senior Citizens Center said it received none of the three requests, so it had no duty to respond to them.
Can a North Dakota public committee vote on bills by email and then cure the problem with a public vote?
No. The Stutsman County committee violated the open meetings law when members deliberated and voted on two bills by email. Its later public vote did not undo that violation.
Did North Dakota’s health department violate open records law when a city produced records the department did not?
No, on the facts the department supplied. The AG accepted its statement that it had produced every responsive record in its possession and withheld none; the city’s separate production did not…
Can a North Dakota school district wait months to finish a records request and omit notices a resident asked to receive?
No. The AG found that White Shield Public School District violated the open records law by delaying and leaving records unproduced, and the open meetings law by failing to send requested board…
Which North Dakota school district may levy property tax on Grand Sky's leased land at Grand Forks Air Force Base?
Only the school district whose boundaries contain the leased property may levy school taxes there. The Attorney General found the leasehold taxable but left the decisive boundary question to local…
Does a North Dakota agency violate open-records law when it has no records responsive to a request?
No. Based on the facts supplied by Health and Human Services, the agency possessed no responsive records and therefore did not withhold any records from the requester.
Was a school-bus company contracting with a North Dakota public school subject to open-records law?
No. Because Harlow's School Bus Service contracted with the Mandan district at fair market value, the AG followed a recent opinion classifying it as a private contractor rather than a public entity.
Did a North Dakota humane society violate open-records law by providing only part of a reporter's request?
Yes. The requester never narrowed or withdrew the remaining items, so the society's mistaken belief that he needed only certain meeting records did not excuse its partial response. It had to provide…
Did a North Dakota county violate open-records law when a request went to junk mail before a prompt follow-up response?
No. The treasurer did not receive the first email because a junk-mail filter caught it, then supplied the property-tax notices within a reasonable time after receiving the follow-up request.
Did North Prairie Regional Water District violate North Dakota open-meetings law by using a 14-person room and failing to post notice there?
The 14-person room was adequate for the number reasonably expected, so there was no access violation. The district did violate the notice requirement by failing to post at the meeting location on…
Can North Dakota's Retirement and Investment Office use investment earnings to pay employee incentive compensation without a separate legislative appropriation?
Yes. The AG concluded that N.D.C.C. § 54-52.5-03 gives the Retirement and Investment Office continuing authority to use lawfully available client-fund earnings for incentive compensation authorized…
Can a North Dakota county charge city residents more for 911 dispatch or provide them fewer police dispatch services?
No. A county-operated public safety answering point must include all public safety services in its service area on equal terms and may not give city residents fewer standard dispatch services or…
Can a North Dakota school district tell a requester that future board-email searches may carry a fee after it spent over two hours on a request?
No violation. Mandan Public School District supplied emails outside Jordan's date range but told her no other responsive emails existed. The AG also found no violation in telling her that future…
Is a housing authority responsible for records requested from an employee acting in an unrelated personal role, like a school board seat?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded the Morton County Housing Authority did not violate the open records law, because the citizen's records request was addressed to the Housing Authority's…
How long does a North Dakota state agency have to respond to a public records request, and does it have to create new reports from its database?
The AG found that Veterans' Affairs did not have to create the particular database reports Volk requested but did have to provide existing reports. Its six-day delay before acknowledging her request…
What has to be announced before a North Dakota county commission can go into a closed executive session with its attorney?
The North Dakota AG found three violations: the agenda was too vague about the closed session's topics, the Commission did not adequately announce its legal authority for closing the meeting, and…
Can a North Dakota sheriff's office refuse to release inmate disciplinary records under an open records request?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded that the Williams County Sheriff's Office properly withheld institutional discipline and protective management records: those records are exempt (for…
Can the North Dakota Tax Commissioner refuse to confirm whether a specific business holds a sales-tax permit?
Yes. The AG concluded that whether a business has a sales-tax permit is confidential taxpayer information under N.D.C.C. § 57-39.2-23(1)(a). Confirming or denying permit status would reveal the…
When a North Dakota newspaper asks for the police report and body-camera footage from a state legislator's DUI arrest, can the police department withhold the records as 'active' even though the legislator has been arrested and the case is moving through the courts?
Yes, on the facts in this opinion. The AG found the detailed police report and body-camera footage were active criminal investigative information when the Herald requested them during a pending…
If a North Dakota city has officially blocked someone's email address (after notifying them and offering alternative methods to make records requests), and the person sends a records request via that blocked email anyway, does the city violate the open records law by not responding?
No. The AG found no violation because Mandan had notified Jordan it would no longer accept his email requests and had offered in-person or written requests instead. The City did not receive his 2023…
Can the North Dakota State Auditor audit the state's Protection and Advocacy agency, including records that are confidential under federal disability-rights laws and state attorney-client privilege rules?
Yes. North Dakota's audit-access statute (N.D.C.C. § 54-10-22.1) starts with 'notwithstanding any other specific sections of law,' giving the State Auditor access to confidential records during…
If I ask a North Dakota county for records and the records are actually held by a separate housing authority that the county appoints board members for, does the county have to track down those records for me?
No. A public entity must timely tell a requester when it does not have the requested records. Morton County complied by saying it did not possess the separate housing authority's minutes. The…
When North Dakota residents invite city commissioners to a public meeting and only two of five commissioners actually show up, has the city commission violated the open meetings law if no special meeting notice was issued?
No. The open meetings law applies to a 'meeting,' which under North Dakota statute requires either a quorum of the governing body or a smaller-than-quorum gathering held to evade the open-meeting…
Can the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services refuse to release records it sent to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about a hospital complaint?
Yes. The AG concluded DHHS substantially complied with North Dakota's open records law by refusing to release the EMTALA complaint records, because the state's 1985 agreement with the federal HHS…
Can a North Dakota county make a person sign an acknowledgment as a condition of receiving copies of public records?
No. The AG concluded the Ransom County Commission violated the open records law by requiring the requester to sign an acknowledgment of receipt before getting county-commission minutes. The law does…
Does a North Dakota school district violate the open records law by giving a requester redacted documents and explaining the redactions verbally instead of in writing?
Not necessarily. The AG concluded the Williston Basin School District substantially complied with the open records law. The district provided records the day after they were requested, and verbally…
Must a North Dakota school district obtain old bid records it no longer has to answer an open records request?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Williston Basin School District #7 complied by providing all responsive Innovation Academy bid records in its possession. Its superintendent also contacted…
Did a North Dakota rural ambulance district violate the open meetings or open records laws when its email notice to the official newspaper got stuck in an outbox, and when it took 80 days to release a severance agreement?
The AG found substantial compliance with notice rules for both meetings, despite a technical failure to email the newspaper about the first. KAAS violated open records law by taking nearly 80 days…
Can a North Dakota state's attorney refuse to release records of a child-sexual-abuse investigation to the convicted defendant, and how long can the office take to respond?
The AG upheld this records denial because the State's Attorney identified which requested records were exempt or not in his office's possession. The almost nine-month delay in responding was unreasonable.
When a North Dakota county commission calls a special meeting, what notice does it have to give and what must the minutes record?
Special meetings need notice to the principal office, the meeting location, the website, the county auditor, anyone who has requested notice, AND the official newspaper. Minutes must record members…
When does a North Dakota Ethics Commission opinion protect someone from penalties, and can a Commission rule override a state statute?
Valid Ethics Commission advisory opinions on specified hypothetical facts or prospective conduct can carry statutory immunity. The AG found AO 25-01 too general to qualify, so it carried no…
If a state agency deletes a meeting video on a records-retention schedule and a journalist asks for it later, is that a violation of the open records law?
No. RIO did not violate open records law by failing to provide a meeting recording deleted under its retention schedule before the request. It had no duty to recreate a record no longer in its possession.
Can the public get a list of which specific companies and how much money each individual investment manager has put the North Dakota Legacy Fund into?
RIO could withhold the requested manager-specific Legacy Fund positions as confidential financial information under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18.4. It directed the requester to monthly reports listing…
If a public-entity insurance pool denies my claim, can it also refuse to give me its claim file by calling it 'active litigation records'?
No, not on these facts. The North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund violated the open records law by refusing the Kommers' claim file twice, first under an overbroad reading of the…
When someone asks a North Dakota sheriff's office for records about a victim or witness in a criminal case, must the sheriff release them?
Records that could be used to locate a victim or witness are exempt and protected. But the sheriff cannot deny the entire records request just because some pages contain protected information. The…
Can sitting county commissioners have one-on-one chats with newly elected commissioners about portfolios and the chair election before the new commissioners take office?
Yes, on the facts here. Conversations before a commissioner-elect's term began (the first Monday in December under N.D.C.C. § 11-10-05.1) don't involve a quorum of the current commission. The AG…
Is a private nonprofit senior services organization that gets county mill levy funding subject to North Dakota's open records and meetings laws?
Partially. The Williston Council for the Aging, a private nonprofit getting about 27% of its budget from county mill levies under N.D.C.C. § 57-15-56, is a 'public entity' to the extent of those…
Can a North Dakota city charge for record copies before sending them, and can it deny a records request just because the records contain some confidential information?
Yes on the fee (cities may charge up to 25 cents per page, plus actual postage, and may require payment in advance). No on the blanket denial: the city must redact the confidential bits and release…
If a North Dakota agency hands me a $3,475 estimate to fulfill an open records request, can I challenge it as excessive?
The AG upheld this $3,475 estimate because it was based on authorized redaction charges for 78 General Orders and 63 personnel files, with one estimated hour per document and two initial hours…
Can a sheriff's office try to identify the person behind an anonymous records request, if it has separate reasons to investigate that person?
Yes, when the inquiry happens in a separate internal affairs investigation, not as part of the records-request process. The Cass County Sheriff's Office processed the anonymous CODE 4 MEDIA records…
If a public entity never receives my emailed records request because of a server problem, is it still required to respond?
No. The AG concluded that an unreceived open records request creates no more obligation to respond than an unsent one. The City of Parshall's email service provider had a delivery problem during the…
Can a private school bus company be forced to give up its bus routes under North Dakota's open records law?
No, not by the company itself. A private contractor that provides services to a school district at fair market value is not a 'public entity' under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-17.1(13). Records held by the…
Is a small private rural hospital that occasionally gets city sales-tax money for equipment subject to North Dakota's open meetings law?
Only as to the public funds. Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center, a private nonprofit critical access hospital in Elgin that received three sales-tax-fund grants from the City of Elgin (in 2013,…
When can a county commission go into closed executive session, and what has to be in the meeting notice?
An anticipated executive session must be described in the public meeting notice. Once in executive session, the discussion must actually fit one of the narrow statutory exceptions (here, attorney…
Can a North Dakota city council ask employees to leave the room during an open meeting when their salaries are being discussed?
No. The AG concluded that the New Town City Council violated North Dakota's open meetings law when it asked four employees, attending after hours in their personal capacity, to leave during a salary…
If a North Dakota airport authority misspells the email when notifying the city auditor of a special meeting, has it given valid notice?
No. Posting the agenda at both airport terminals two days before the meeting was not enough. A typo that prevented the city auditor from receiving the notice, plus failure to alert the official…
If a North Dakota Governor's written veto message says one thing about which language is being struck, but the marked-up bill attached to it says another, which one controls?
The written statement of objections controls. The North Dakota Constitution requires the Governor to return the vetoed bill or item with a written statement of objections, and the words used in that…
If a city loses my records request submitted through its online form, can it wait two months to answer?
No. Mandan took more than two months to answer a records request sent through its online form. The officer who received it suspected it had been unintentionally deleted. The AG found the delay…
What can a North Dakota school district legally charge for fulfilling an open records request, and what fees are off-limits?
A school district may charge for copying, locating and excising confidential records. Locating and excising fees are capped at $25 per hour after the first hour of each task. This district could not…
If a North Dakota township posts its meeting notice in the newspaper and on its website but not at the meeting site, is the meeting still validly noticed?
Yes. Substantial compliance is enough. Posting in the newspaper and on the website covered the requirement, even though no notice was posted at the school where the meeting was held. But the same…
What does a North Dakota public board have to do before going into closed session to talk to its lawyer?
Give notice of the session, then announce its topics and legal authority in the open meeting and take a recorded roll call vote when required. The AG found that only about 90 seconds of this…
How long can a North Dakota township take to respond to an open records request before the delay becomes a violation?
Reasonable response is usually measured in hours or days, not weeks. A six-week delay was unreasonable, even when the township blamed the unexpected resignation of the treasurer who managed its…
Does a North Dakota city council have to put the meeting location on its public notices, even when meetings always happen in the same place?
Yes. Location is a 'material element' of meeting notice under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-20. Habit cannot substitute. Special meetings must also be noticed to the local newspaper.
Does a federally registered political action committee that files campaign reports under one North Dakota statute get out of filing under another?
No. A PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission that files independent-expenditure reports under N.D.C.C. § 16.1-08.1-03.7 still has to file the regular campaign disclosure statements…
When a public flood-control authority sets up a private dispute-review board to handle construction disputes, do open meeting laws apply?
Yes. The Metro Flood Diversion Authority is a public entity. Its Technical Dispute Review Board, set up by contract with a private developer to resolve construction disputes, is a committee of the…
When can a North Dakota city council go into executive session to talk to its lawyer about possible litigation?
Lincoln City Council went into executive session to talk to its attorney about possibly suing the former city auditor over a bond claim. The AG concluded the executive session wasn't authorized: the…
Is a county historical society subject to North Dakota open meetings law, and what counts as proper meeting minutes?
Yes, the Emmons County Historical Society is a public entity because it receives Emmons County funding and is recognized under N.D.C.C. § 11-11-53. The president's 'personal notes' from three…
Can a North Dakota home rule city like Fargo use approval voting for city elections instead of the ballot format required by state law?
Yes. Fargo voters approved an approval-voting amendment to the city charter in 2018, and the city implemented it through Ordinance 5191. North Dakota law gives home rule cities the power to provide…
Can a North Dakota agency refuse to give me records because of an old unpaid invoice if I've already sent them a check that they didn't cash?
No. The Mandan Park District tried to deny S. Paul Jordan's records request because he had a $25 outstanding invoice from a prior request. He had already mailed a personal check for $25 with 'theft…
Can a North Dakota home rule city set its own recall election rules that differ from the state's recall procedure?
No. Dickinson's home rule charter article 8 sets a 15% signature threshold and a 15-day sufficiency review period for recall petitions, conflicting with the 25% threshold and review period of up to…
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Attorney general opinions in North Dakota are written by the North Dakota Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.