North Dakota Legislative Assembly

North Dakota Legislative Assembly

Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President Pro Tem of the Senate	Dick Dever (R) since December 1, 2014
Speaker of the House	Wesley Belter (R) since December 1, 2014
Structure
Seats	141
Political groups	Republican Party Democratic-NPL Party
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014
Meeting place

North Dakota State Capitol, Bismarck
Website
http://www.legis.nd.gov

The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The Legislative Assembly consists of two chambers, the lower North Dakota House of Representatives, with 94 representatives, and the upper North Dakota Senate, with 47 senators. The state is divided into 47 constituent districts, with two representatives and one senator elected from each district. Members of both houses are elected without term limits. Due to the Legislative Assembly being a biennial legislature, with the House and Senate sitting for only 80 days in odd-numbered years, a Legislative Council oversees legislative affairs in the interim periods, doing longer-term studies of issues, and drafting legislation for consideration of both houses during the next session.

The Legislative Assembly convenes in the west chamber of the 19-story Art Deco state capitol building in Bismarck.

Constitutional mandates

According to Article IV, Section 1 of the North Dakota Constitution, the Senate must be composed of no fewer than 40 senators, and no more than 54. Similarly, the House of Representatives must be composed of no fewer than 80 and no more than 108 representatives. Section 2 states that the Legislative Assembly can divide the state into as many legislative districts of compact and contiguous territory as there are senators. A senator and at least two representatives must be apportioned to each senatorial district and be elected at large or from subdistricts from those districts. The Legislative Assembly may combine two senatorial districts only when a single member senatorial district includes a federal facility or federal installation, containing over two-thirds of the population of a single member senatorial district, and may provide for the election of senators at-large and representatives at-large from subdistricts from those districts.

In addition to a four-year term for both houses of the Legislative Assembly, Section 3 states that one-half of the members of the Senate and one-half of the members of the House of Representatives must be elected biennially. Originally, the North Dakota Constitution limited members of the North Dakota House of Representatives to two-year terms, with the all representatives standing for reelection at the same time. In 1996, the voters approved a constitutional amendment that changed the term for representatives to four-years with staggered terms. The amendment went into effect July 1, 1997, and was first applied in the 1998 elections.^[1]^[2] All statutes passed by the Legislative Assembly and signed by the governor become part of the North Dakota Century Code.

Qualifications

Members of both houses elected to the Legislative Assembly must be, on the day of the election, a qualified elector from their home district and must be a resident of North Dakota for one year immediately prior to their election.

Legislative Management

Due to the biennial nature of the legislature, legislation, research, committee reports, and testimony during interim periods is provided by the Legislative Management. Legislative Management consists of 17 legislators, including the majority and minority leaders of both houses and the Speaker of the House. The Speaker appoints six other representatives, three from the majority party and three from the minority party as recommended by the majority and minority leaders, respectively. The Lieutenant Governor, as President of the Senate, appoints four senators from the majority and two from the minority as recommended by the majority and minority leaders, though the Senate President does not sit on Legislative Management.

Meeting places

The first State Capitol building at the beginning of the 20th century.

Built between 1883 and 1884, the original territorial (and later) state capitol building served as the home to the Legislative Assembly until the morning of December 28, 1930, when the original building burned down. During the fire, Secretary of State Robert Byrne saved the original copy of the state constitution, but suffered cuts and burns on his hands while breaking a window to reach the document. In the interim period without a capitol, the Legislative Assembly convened in both the War Memorial Building and the City Auditorium in Bismarck. Under the approval of Governor George F. Shafer, the current Art Deco capitol was built as a replacement between 1931 to 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression.

References

↑ House Concurrent Resolution No. 3010 (North Dakota Session Laws 1995, ch. 649) approved November 5, 1996 (ND Session Laws 1997, ch. 570)
↑ "State by State: The Election at a Glance". Daytona News-Journal. 1996-11-07. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)

External links

North Dakota Legislative Assembly official site
North Dakota Legislative Assembly at Ballotpedia
Legislature of North Dakota at Project Vote Smart
North Dakota campaign financing at FollowTheMoney.org

Members of the North Dakota State Senate

64th Legislative Assembly (2015)

President of the Senate: Drew Wrigley (R)
President pro Tempore: Dick Dever (R)
Majority Leader: Rich Wardner (R)
Minority Leader: Mac Schneider (D-NPL)

Stanley W. Lyson (R)
John M. Andrist (R)
Oley Larsen (R)
John Warner (D-NPL)
Randy Burckhard (R)
David O'Connell (D-NPL)
Nicole Poolman (R)
Howard C. Anderson, Jr. (R)
Richard Marcellais (D-NPL)
Joe Miller (R)
Tim Mathern (D-NPL)
John Grabinger (D-NPL)

Judy Lee (R)
Jerry Klein (R)
Dave Oehlke (R)
Tyler Axness (D-NPL)
Ray Holmberg (R)
Constance Triplett (D-NPL)
Tom Campbell (R)
Philip Murphy (D-NPL)
Carolyn Nelson (D-NPL)
Gary Lee (R)
Joan Heckaman (D-NPL)
Larry Robinson (D-NPL)

Larry Luick (R)
Jim Dotzenrod (D-NPL)
Spencer Berry (R)
Robert Erbele (R)
Terry Wanzek (R)
Ron Carlisle (R)
Donald Schaible (R)
Dick Dever (R)
Jessica K. Unruh (R)
Dwight Cook (R)
Erin Oban (D)
Kelly M. Armstrong (R)

Rich Wardner (R)
David Hogue (R)
Bill Bowman (R)
Karen Krebsbach (R)
Tony Grindberg (R)
Mac Schneider (D-NPL)
Lonnie Laffen (R)
Tim Flakoll (R)
Ronald Sorvaag (R)
George B. Sinner (D-NPL)
Ralph Kilzer (R)

Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives

64th Legislative Assembly (2015)

Speaker of the House: Wesley Belter (R)
Majority Leader: Al Carlson (R)
Minority Leader: Corey Mock (D-NPL)

Patrick Hatlestad (R)
Gary Sukut (R)
David Rust (R)
Bob Skarphol (R)
Andrew Maragos (R)
Roscoe Streyle (R)
Glen Froseth (R)
Kenton Onstad (D-NPL)
Scott Louser (R)
Roger Brabrandt (R)
Dick Anderson (R)
Bob Hunskor (D-NPL)
Rick Becker (R)
Jason Dockter (R)
Jeff Delzer (R)
Vernon R. Laning (R)
Tracy Boe (D-NPL)
Marvin Nelson (D-NPL)
Chuck Damschen (R)
David Monson (R)
Ron Guggisberg (D-NPL)
Scot Kelsh (D-NPL)
Jessica Haak (D-NPL)
Alex Looysen (R)

Kim Koppelman (R)
Alon Wieland (R)
Jon Nelson (R)
Robin Weisz (R)
Curt Hofstad (R)
Dennis Johnson (R)
Ben W. Hanson (D-NPL)
Ben Koppelman (R)
Mark Owens (R)
Mark Sanford (R)
Eliot Glassheim (D-NPL)
Marie Strinden (D-NPL)
Wayne Trottier (R)
Gary Paur (R)
Richard Holman (D-NPL)
Gail Mooney (D-NPL)
Kathy Hogan (D-NPL)
Steve Zaiser (D-NPL)
Wesley Belter (R)
Peter F. Silbernagel (R)
William Devlin (R)
Don Vigesaa (R)
Naomi Muscha (D-NPL)
Dwight Kiefert (R)

John Wall (R)
Clark Williams (D-NPL)
Bill Amerman (D-NPL)
Jerry Kelsh (D-NPL)
Randy Boehning (R)
Thomas Beadle (R)
Michael Don Brandenburg (R)
William Kretschmar (R)
Craig Headland (R)
Chet Pollert (R)
Mike Nathe (R)
Diane Larson (R)
Karen Rohr (R)
James Schmidt (R)
Mark Dosch (R)
Lisa Meier (R)
Brenda Heller (R)
Gary Kreidt (R)
Nathan Toman (R)
Todd Porter (R)
Karen Karls (R)
Bob Martinson (R)
Alan Fehr (R)
Mike Schatz (R)

Nancy Johnson (R)
Vicky Steiner (R)
Larry Bellew (R)
Dan Ruby (R)
David Drovdal (R)
Keith Kempenich (R)
Robert Frantsvog (R)
Matthew Klein (R)
Al Carlson (R)
Bette Grande (R)
Kylie Oversen (D-NPL)
Corey Mock (D-NPL)
Lois Delmore (D-NPL)
Curt Kreun (R)
Joshua Boschee (D-NPL)
Blair Thoreson (R)
Joe Heilman (R)
Ed Gruchalla (D-NPL)
Kathy Hawken (R)
James Kasper (R)
George Keiser (R)
Lawrence Klemin (R)

State Government of North Dakota

State Capitol North Dakota Constitution Coat of Arms Flag Seal

Executive Branch	Governor Agriculture Commissioner Attorney General Auditor Insurance Commissioner Lieutenant Governor Secretary of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tax Commissioner Treasurer State Cabinet

Legislative Branch	Legislative Assembly House of Representatives Senate

Judicial Branch	Court System Supreme Court Court of Appeals District Court Municipal Courts

Departments and divisions	Agriculture Career and Technical Education Commerce Corrections and Rehabilitation Emergency Services Financial Institutions Game and Fish Health Human Services Labor Land Office of Management and Budget Oil and Gas Parks and Recreation Public Instruction Securities Seed Transportation Veterans Affairs

Boards and commissions	Board of Higher Education Industrial Commission Public Service Commission Water Commission

Other	Bank of North Dakota Highway Patrol State Library State Mill and Elevator State Penitentiary State School for the Blind State School for the Deaf University System

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