BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Legislative Assembly will be represented by two outside lawyers in a lawsuit.
The suit was filed over a ballot measure that would impact the voter-approved legislative term limits.
The Legislative Management committee met Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit. A majority of the meeting was held in closed executive session, which is applicable under state law when discussing legal strategy.
Senator Brad Bekkedahl made a motion to have Legislative Management and Legislative Council hire outside representation to represent the Legislature in the matter. Typically, that’s handled by Legislative Council and the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
All but one member of the 17-person committee voted in favor of hiring counsel outside state government.
House Minority Leader Zac Ista of Grand Forks told Flag Family News, in a statement, that he disagreed with the legislature passing the constitutional resolution.
“Both because of the risk of a lawsuit challenging it and because it violates the voters’ desires on term limits even if a court rules the legislature acted lawfully in referring the measure to the ballot,” he said.
Ista went on to say, “Even if it is proper for the legislature to vigorously defend its position, I believe our own Legislative Council attorneys and the AG’s office have the best expertise to do so and that we don’t get much extra value from the extra cost of retaining outside counsel.”
