North Dakota Court Information

In the North Dakota Court system there are 3 levels of state courts and they are:

•    Supreme Court of North Dakota
•    District Courts (present in 7 judicial districts)
•    Municipal Courts

Supreme Court of North Dakota

This is the top-most judicial body in this state. The court is responsible for ruling on issues of law that come as appeals from the district courts in the state. There are 5 justices in the Supreme Court of the state and they all are elected for terms of 10 years, which are arranged in such a manner that one seat is contested once every 2 years.

A Chief Justice has to be elected from the Justices every 5 years (or when there is a vacancy) through a vote from the judges of the district courts and the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has been allowed to form a lower appellate court that consists of a 3 member panel which is selected from retired and active judges of the district court, and justices from the Supreme Court who have retired. The appellate court only hears the cases that have been specially referred to it by Supreme Court.

According to the constitution of the state, the justices and district court judges need to be citizens of the United States and residents of the state, shall be learned in the law, and shall possess any additional qualifications prescribed by law.

The Dakota Territory Supreme Court came into being at Yankton in the year 1861. The website for the Supreme Court in North Dakota is

http://www.ndcourts.com

.

District Courts in North Dakota

These are general jurisdiction trial courts in the state. There are seven judicial districts in North Dakota, which are divided by region. The judges for these courts are elected by the voters of their district for 6 year terms in non-partisan elections. District Courts are allowed to decide misdemeanor and felony criminal cases, and have general jurisdiction in juvenile and civil cases.

The various District Courts in the state are:

Northwest District for Burke, Divide, Mountrail, McKenzie, Williams and Ward

Northeast District for Benson, Bottineau, McHenry, Cavalier, Pembina, Ramsey, Pierce, Renville, Towner, Rolette and Walsh

Northeast Central District for Nelson and Grand Forks

East Central District for Steele, Cass Traill

Southeast District for Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Eddy, LaMoure, Griggs, Ransom, Sargent, Richland, Wells and Stutsman

South Central District for Burleigh, Emmons, Kidder, Grant, Logan, McLean, McIntosh, Morton, Mercer, Sheridan, Oliver and Sioux

Southwest District for Adams, Billings, Dunn, Bowman, Hettinger, Golden Valley, Stark and Slope

http://www.ndcourts.com/court/Districts/Districts.htm

is the website for the District Courts in North Dakota.

Municipal Court

The Municipal Courts are trial courts with jurisdiction over violations of municipal ordinances, with some exceptions. All judges in the Municipal Courts work part-time. They have 4 year terms and are elected by the public.

The website for the North Dakota Municipal Courts is

http://www.ndcourts.com/Court/municipal.htm

.