Vacancy in Judgeship No. 3, NECJD

2017 ND 220

In the Matter of the Vacancy in Judgeship No. 3, with Chambers

in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Northeast Central Judicial District

No. 20170270

Per curiam.

[¶1] On July 18, 2017, Governor Doug Burgum notified the Supreme Court of the resignation of the Honorable Jon J. Jensen as Judge of the District Court, with chambers in Grand Forks, Northeast Central Judicial District, effective August 15, 2017. Judge Jensen's resignation as district judge creates a vacancy under Section 27-05-02.1, N.D.C.C.

[¶2] Under Section 27-05-02.1, N.D.C.C., this Court is required to review judicial vacancies that occur and determine, within 90 days of receiving notice of a vacancy, whether the office is necessary for effective judicial administration. This Court may, consistent with that determination, order a vacancy filled or order the vacant office transferred to another judicial district in which an additional judge is necessary, or abolish a vacant judicial office, with or without a transfer.

[¶3] Under N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, notice of a written consultation with attorneys and judges and other interested persons in the Northeast Central Judicial District was posted July 18, 2017, on the website of the Supreme Court regarding the vacancy created by Judge Jensen's resignation in Judgeship No. 3. Notice was also electronically provided to all presiding judges of the state. Written comments on the vacancy were permitted through September 11, 2017. This procedure is sufficient for purposes of the consultation required under Section 27-05-02.1, N.D.C.C.

[¶4] Comments supporting filling the vacancy in the current location were received, and a Report containing population and caseload trends, and other criteria identified in N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, Section 4, was filed August 20, 2017, by the Northeast Central Judicial District. The State Court Administrator recently provided statewide weighted caseload statistics through May 2017 when this Court considered a judicial vacancy in the Northeast Judicial District, which is in the same administrative district as the Northeast Central Judicial District. See, Vacancy in Judgeship No. 6, Northeast Judicial District, 2017 ND 181, 899 N.W.2d 273. We take judicial notice of the information contained in that file. No comments or petitions were received to relocate this vacancy.

[¶5] The Northeast Central Judicial District is comprised of Nelson and Grand Forks counties, with five judges chambered in Grand Forks. According to the district's report, Judgeship No. 3 is responsible for an equal share of the civil and criminal caseload in Nelson and Grand Forks counties. With the elimination of two judicial referee positions in the district since 2015, there is a shortage of judicial officers in the district. A 1.17 shortage is shown for the 2015/16 two-year average, which is projected to increase to a 1.50 shortage of judicial officers for the 2016/17 two-year average.

[¶6] Under the criteria of Section 4 of N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, the Court has considered all submissions received by the Court and its own administrative records on state-wide weighted caseload data.

[¶7] Based on the record before us, this Court determines the office is necessary for effective judicial administration in the Northeast Central Judicial District.

[¶8] IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that Judgeship No. 3 at Grand Forks in the Northeast Central Judicial District be filled in the manner provided by N.D.C.C. Chapter 27-25.

[¶9] Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.
Jerod E. Tufte
Jon J. Jensen
Lisa Fair McEvers
Daniel J. Crothers