[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6382860,"mediaKeyId","2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990","parentId",2126127,"title","Panel hears bill to seal dismissed criminal records after change to court rule","audioSeconds",2226,"startMs",782000,"endMs",3008000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990&start=782&end=3008","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990/thumbnail_782000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6382860/North-Dakota/Panel-hears-bill-to-seal-dismissed-criminal-records-after-change-to-court-rule","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6382860-a150c9c0fdf767fce1f117614c145868/orig.mp4?Expires=1771173668&Signature=WSPlS8ixC8ekdYplGZGSgC1bw8pZDvWEFYT6H-cRDLM0nMXbVKTxSXYTJF8I5j4ey4SZY0rjxT2DXNAtcUpg10Qm0rYUAt4RkGCkJyaoCQ~2fmNol5zA8aTT~4gvqNVN8F5p-rZOw0q1lBSQqilxe4KtkSpxHCej2aMRE970J44SRvCWh-fZn3pN~COjr8I4RcehNT5fm9LtNm17L1C5-GhrAhxUWTEKqjPJ7UOWaK-hy2s5bylS5CwNOCF8iSTZqplbVqg9k3sdnNN~0jVyBnM1afp78NaftFRYZGpgNEF~6trwVls4~TrBV2OyvRxLGWjc~CKEdb4TqhtlhQR7Wg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","House Judiciary, ND","date","2025-01-13T00:00:00Z","article","The House Judiciary Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 1166, which would establish a statutory process to seal criminal records for dismissed, not-guilty or pardoned cases and apply that process retroactively, Rep. Brandy Pyle said.

Supporters told the committee the proposal responds to a change in North Dakota Supreme Court Administrative Rule 41 that removed a sentence limiting name-based public searches and, they said, unintentionally restored public visibility for many long-closed nonconviction records. Opponents — including court administrators and the North Dakota Newspaper Association — warned the bill’s retroactive and emergency provisions would impose large burdens on clerks, erase routine public access and hamper news reporting.

Rep. Brandy Pyle, a state representative from District 22, told the committee the bill “will create a process for criminal records to be sealed much like the current process for successful completion of a deferred sentence,” and urged a do-pass recommendation. Pyle and witnesses said the measure would use the same 61-day timing now used for deferred-sentencing sealing processes in chapter 12.60.1.

Jackie Hall, executive director of the North Dakota Association for Justice, said the change to Administrative Rule 41 had a retroactive effect that made names for dismissed cases visible again in the court’s public search. “We believe this was an inadvertent consequence,” Hall said, and HB 1166 would let people who were found not guilty, pardoned or dismissed follow the same sealing route as other record-removal processes.

Several people who said they suffered personal harm from public access to dismissed records testified in support. Christopher Bitz of Mandan described a dismissed felony accusation he said had been sealed by petition but was again visible in online searches; he said the public availability revived stigma for his children and family. Brad Peterson, legal director at Protection & Advocacy, said faster sealing could protect people with repeated dismissed charges who otherwise face negative consequences in future proceedings or from third parties such as insurers.

Representing the news industry, Cecile Wurman, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, said she did not oppose sealing but asked the committee to alter the timing. Because the bill would automatically seal records “within 61 days,” she told the committee, reporters could lose the ability to publish the final disposition; she suggested an amendment to allow a small publication window (for example, “after 61 days but no later than 90 days”) so follow-up reporting can record whether charges were dismissed, transferred to federal court, or otherwise disposed.

Sarah Behrens, staff attorney at the State Court Administrator’s Office, warned that an automatic, retroactive sealing requirement would impose a large workload on clerks and raise practical problems. Behrens said records that are sealed under statute would no longer be available without a court order — even to the subject, the prosecutor or law enforcement — and noted many older case files remain paper records. She provided workload estimates to the committee, saying more than 28,000 cases are filed in North Dakota each year and that, limited to the past 10 years, clerks would need to review roughly 283,740 cases to identify those with dismissals, acquittals or pardons.

Opponents also urged the committee to consider changing Administrative Rule 41 rather than imposing a statutory retroactive sealing requirement. Behrens said rule changes could be considered by the court’s rule process and might avoid the retroactivity and administrative burdens that the bill’s current language would create.

Committee members questioned whether the bill’s language should be narrowed to require that all charges in a single case be dismissed before the case can be removed; proponents said they were working with the State’s Attorneys Association and proposed an amendment changing a phrase to require “all criminal charges in the record are dismissed” before automatic sealing applies.

The committee closed the hearing after testimony. Members said they expected to consider proposed amendments before taking further action.

The hearing record includes written testimony submitted online, and committee staff said that written testimony will be reviewed before any vote on the measure.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Judiciary Jan 13, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The House Judiciary Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 1166, which would establish a statutory process to seal criminal records for dismissed, not-guilty or pardoned cases and apply that process retroactively, Rep. Brandy Pyle said.","taxTitle","Judiciary, House of Representatives, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28895,"location","North Dakota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6382845,"Bill would put presidential candidates’ full names on general-election ballots",652,7948000,8600000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990&start=7948&end=8600","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990/thumbnail_7948000.jpg","/articles/6382845/North-Dakota/Bill-would-put-presidential-candidates-full-names-on-general-election-ballots","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6382845-3e3441cd933a7b942eea8c580739d0ab/orig.mp4?Expires=1771173668&Signature=I1LPl1iLAkWkOYDSw5rNvR9hW4kaJn~5DNiWT1Y2GAYqSkyw1Ig6TwjrLfxNuD5tYksb0cYaa6Mg4Aw6XB1~sLcZgeMYnLPWBfssNoFCYndtfXxWFtMlXhnG5YB20m2-8u5CcVXyWoqKUaEdS-Sp4~QADfdEVUVhlSRHxFWjVsGKO54bacsxwJaTaF1NjBG-rrippJS-mZdC-jrCq8~3s5~wOn~nBg31Fkopw3m57P5A0WI5yd08uFuhikPGQBEo6k6bSTtCcogHeHxBZ1PEcOxYeV~ZEaBqwNrbKtFT7Iga6OOPMX3YEsf81Xs6h4jsCUJ2D~HNOEIjs2BYodQEYg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Rep. Liz Conmee introduced House Bill 1099 to require presidential candidates’ full names — by statute — on North Dakota’s general-election ballot, saying the change would avoid voter confusion and align the presidential-ballot wording with other candidate-name rules.

Conmee said that during the last election the ballot showed only surnames for the presidential column and that several election judges reported voters asking for first names. She said Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office supported clarifying the statute so ballots would display the candidate name the same way other offices are printed.

Sandy McMurdie, deputy in the Secretary of State’s office, testified that the statute has historically read “surname” for the presidential entry and that practice has resulted in ballots showing only last names. McMurdie told the committee the proposed change would match the candidate-name language used for other offices and likely reduce voter confusion.

Committee members asked about nicknames and middle initials. McMurdie and elections staff said a candidate may generally use a commonly known nickname (for example, “Sally” for Rosella) so long as the name reasonably corresponds to how the candidate is publicly known; middle initials and commonly used forms are allowed under existing practice. The committee closed the hearing on the bill with no opposition testimony presented at the meeting.

The measure’s wording was discussed and staff noted an amendment that replaces the phrase “first and last name” with the broader term “name” to match the candidate-registration language used elsewhere in statute.","Representative Liz Conmee introduced House Bill 1099 to require first and last names (or the candidate’s chosen name) be printed for presidential candidates on general-election ballots; the change would align presidential ballot language with how other candidates’ names appear and was supported by the Secretary of State’s office.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":80,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6382851,"Panel backs appropriation to embed two BCI cybercrime agents with Grand Forks police",392,7556000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990&start=7556&end=7948","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2126127-6710b88f2fd00bcb425acac868e02990/thumbnail_7556000.jpg","/articles/6382851/North-Dakota/Panel-backs-appropriation-to-embed-two-BCI-cybercrime-agents-with-Grand-Forks-police","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6382851-c755914ba374dfa7b03253f0fc799951/orig.mp4?Expires=1771173668&Signature=bv44MHKeEqGeG-T0PTetcPatTy45xlMwhtDM-a4b7ykVyQctRpCodCdQUYp-7BFmpVXsuFIgh~HY2RO8zNdRdJP4eh5JQIAKY9RnajrtDWjA~gn4Qd9l3wR8069XJmdKcWC0xbTh3X8beiJPOfjXWDpWXwYYTNSfB5P5ArUJSJ5USMnUVsiZakmXJAUuGfI8WbW6q703GDBBZPRd5YHPshIylcP0Ynlsjxezw01XQ0xPBJKItu9q-5XQOnXNVFzkxLT2wButMPDQOeLeQkB1-jwYwCwtEwLw8X0tzDc~ToVjMVkxKORyjZPjCdPWsHm82m75-bqy-IQTs4j2U5GFCQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Judiciary Committee voted to give House Bill 1102 a do-pass recommendation and to re-refer the measure to the Appropriations Committee. The bill would appropriate funds to the Attorney General to pay for two Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) cybercrime agents to be embedded with the Grand Forks Police Department and to serve the northeast region.

Rep. Murphy outlined that two BCI agents embedded with local law enforcement would add forensic and investigative capacity for cybercrime — including child-exploitation investigations — and would also support neighboring jurisdictions. The city of Grand Forks pledged office space and partial cost-sharing; committee discussion referenced additional one-time equipment and vehicle costs that may raise the initial $775,000 request by roughly $40,000 to $50,000 when the appropriation reaches appropriations review.

Todd Phelan, Grand Forks city administrator, said the city and mayor support the measure and are renovating space for the agents. Interim Chief Love of the Grand Forks Police Department said the department needs dedicated technical expertise to process digital evidence efficiently and cited a recent attempted-murder investigation that required extraction from a dozen phones.

Steve Harstead, a chief agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, provided operational context: forensic extractions, software licensing and training are costly, require specialized equipment and continuous training as devices and software change, and the workload requires staff dedicated full time to digital forensics. Harstead noted the statewide cost for commercial extraction tools and services is substantial and that specialized agents increase efficiency for regional law enforcement partners.

Representative Vetter moved a do-pass recommendation and re-referral to Appropriations; Representative McLeod seconded the motion. The roll call showed unanimous committee support: Chair Clamine and 11 other members voted yes (12–0). The committee will forward the bill to Appropriations for fiscal review and possible amendment before floor consideration.","The committee voted to recommend House Bill 1102 be re-referred to Appropriations. The bill would provide a one-time appropriation to the Attorney General to fund two Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents embedded in the Grand Forks Police Department to handle cybercrime and regional digital evidence needs; the motion passed 12-0.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Panel hears bill to seal dismissed criminal records after change to court rule

Bill would put presidential candidates’ full names on general-election ballots

Panel backs appropriation to embed two BCI cybercrime agents with Grand Forks police