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North Dakota Court of Appeals

From Ballotpedia

The State Capitol building in Bismarck, North Dakota

The North Dakota Court of Appeals was created by the North Dakota State Legislature in 1987 to hear cases assigned to it by the North Dakota Supreme Court.[1]

Its three judges serve for temporary terms of up to one year and are chosen from among active and retired district court judges, retired supreme court justices and lawyers.

The court hears cases infrequently. It can only hear cases assigned to it by the North Dakota Supreme Court. In some years, the supreme court assigns no cases to the court of appeals.[2]

Published opinions of the North Dakota Supreme Court can be found here.
 
North Dakota Court of Appeals
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Court information
Judges:   3
Founded:   1987
Salary:  Associates: $N/A
Judicial selection
Method:   Temporarily appointed in panels
Term:   Up to 1 year

Judges

The court of appeals has no permanent judges. Its temporary judges sit in panels of three and decide cases when called on by the supreme court.[2]

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in North Dakota

Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are chosen by the supreme court judges to hear cases specifically assigned to them. The court is composed of three judges chosen from among active and retired district judges, retired supreme court justices, and attorneys. The term of a court of appeals judge is one year.[3][4]

Qualifications

To serve as a judge in North Dakota, one must:

  • be a U.S. and state citizen and
  • be a licensed attorney.[5]

Ethics

The North Dakota Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in North Dakota. It consists of four overarching canons:

“
  • Canon 1: A Judge Shall Uphold and Promote the Independence, Integrity, and Impartiality of the Judiciary, and Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety
  • Canon 2: A Judge Shall Perform the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially, Competently, and Diligently
  • Canon 3: A Judge Shall Conduct the Judge's Personal and Extrajudicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with the Duties of Judicial Office
  • Canon 4: A Judge or Candidate for Judicial Office Shall Not Engage in Political or Campaign Activity That is Inconsistent with the Independence, Integrity, or Impartiality of the Judiciary.[6][7]
 ”

The full text of the North Dakota Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in North Dakota may be removed in one of three ways:

State profile

Demographic data for North Dakota
 North DakotaU.S.
Total population:756,835316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):69,0013,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:88.7%73.6%
Black/African American:1.6%12.6%
Asian:1.2%5.1%
Native American:5.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:2.9%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:91.7%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.7%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$57,181$53,889
Persons below poverty level:12.2%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in North Dakota.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in North Dakota

North Dakota voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in North Dakota, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.[9]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. North Dakota had three Retained Pivot Counties, 1.66 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More North Dakota coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

North Dakota Judicial Selection More Courts

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Courts in North Dakota North Dakota Court of Appeals North Dakota Supreme Court Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in North Dakota Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ North Dakota Courts, "Administrative Rule 27 - Court of Appeals," August 1, 2009
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The North Dakota Judicial System, "The Structure of the Judicial System," accessed July 8, 2014
  3. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Dakota," accessed August 16, 2021
  4. ↑ The North Dakota Judicial System, "The Structure of the Judicial System," accessed August 20, 2014
  5. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Dakota," accessed October 20, 2015
  6. ↑ State of North Dakota Courts, "North Dakota Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed August 31, 2021
  7. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Dakota: Removal of Judges," accessed October 20, 2015
  9. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.