CHAPTER 55-02
STATE HISTORICAL BOARD DIRECTOR
55-02-01. State historical board - Appointment of director - Duties. The board shall
appoint a director of the state historical society who shall act as chief administrative and<br>executive officer in carrying out the policies and directives of the board and shall have charge of<br>all employees and activities and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to the<br>director by the board.
55-02-01.1. Term of office - Vacancy - Salary and expenses. The director shall serve
at the pleasure of the state historical board and until a successor is appointed and qualified. In<br>case of vacancy by death, removal, resignation, or any other cause, the board shall fill the<br>vacancy by appointment.
The salary must be determined by the board within the limits of
legislative appropriation. The director is entitled to compensation for expenses incurred while in<br>the discharge of official duties, paid in the same manner and amounts as other state officials are<br>paid, from funds available to the board.
55-02-01.2. Duties of the director. The director shall:
1.
Collect artifacts, books, maps, charts, and other papers and materials illustrative of<br>the history of this state in particular and of the west generally.
2.
Procure facts and statements relative to the history of the state so as to exhibit<br>faithfully the antiquities and the past and present resources and conditions of this<br>state.
3.
Purchase books to strengthen the society's collections and any other books, maps,<br>charts, microforms, photographs, and other materials to facilitate the investigation of<br>historic, scientific, and literary subjects. The secretary of state and all other state<br>departments and agencies including the colleges and universities shall furnish to the<br>director at least one copy of each state publication produced by that agency.
4.
Catalog, index, and duplicate all of the collections of the society for the more<br>convenient references of all persons who have occasion to consult the same.
5.
Prepare publications relating to the society as may be useful to the public. The<br>society is responsible for the distribution and sale of the reports and shall account for<br>the proceeds to the office of the budget.
6.
Keep the museum exhibition rooms in the North Dakota heritage center open to<br>visitors at all reasonable hours on business days without fee, except that admission<br>fees may be charged for leased exhibitions. Admission fees collected for a leased<br>exhibition must be deposited in a special account in the special revolving fund<br>established under section 55-02-04 and may be used only to pay the associated<br>costs of the exhibition. Any admission fees collected in excess of the costs of a<br>leased exhibition must be deposited in the state general fund.
7.
Organize, develop, and present educational materials and programs concerning the<br>history of North Dakota for the use, information, and benefit of the public.
8.
Cooperate with historical societies and associations duly organized under the laws of<br>the state; provide the historical societies and associations with publications,<br>technical assistance, and advice; and administer a grant system to assist with the<br>development and operation of the societies and associations.
55-02-01.3. Director to advise director of parks and recreation department. The
director shall advise the director of the parks and recreation department on matters pertaining to
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the preservation of historical and archaeological artifacts and historical structures in the state<br>parks. These duties may be performed by the director's duly designated representative.
55-02-02. Transfer of property from state historical society board to North Dakota
park service. Repealed by S.L. 2001, ch. 503, § 57.
55-02-03. Rules to protect property administered by the state historical society -
Penalty. The director of the state historical society, when so authorized by the state historical<br>board, has the power to make and enforce suitable rules relating to the protection, care, and use<br>of any property administered by the society and the violation of any rule constitutes an infraction.
55-02-04.
Fees for use of facilities - Concession agreements - Duration -
Appropriation.
1.
The director of the state historical society when so authorized by the state historical<br>board shall:
a.
Fix and collect reasonable fees for the use of the facilities of any property<br>administered by the society.
b.
Enter into concession agreements or leases with private persons, firms,<br>corporations, or limited liability companies for the operation of any services,<br>including motels, cabins, or other lodging places, within the areas of any<br>property administered by the society. A concession agreement or lease may<br>not run for more than twenty years.
c.
Establish fees for admissions, use charges, and services provided by the<br>society.
2.
All revenues collected for services, shipping or postage charges, fees, admissions,<br>use charges, rentals, compensation for concession agreements, or funds received in<br>the normal course of business from concession operations actually carried on by the<br>state as a proprietor must be deposited in the state treasury in a special revolving<br>fund. All moneys in the fund are appropriated on a continuing basis for expenditure<br>in the course of carrying on the business activities of the concession operations or<br>providing the services from which the income is derived.
55-02-05. Contracting supervision and maintenance with other divisions of federal
and state government - Compensation for expenses incurred.
The director of the state
historical society, when so authorized by the state historical board, shall, for the purpose of<br>avoiding undue expense or inconvenience, by contract with divisions of federal and state<br>governments or political subdivisions, make suitable arrangements whereby one may supervise<br>and maintain the holdings and property of the other. The board, service, department, or division<br>providing the services is entitled to compensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in<br>the amounts agreed upon.
55-02-06. State historical museum at Pembina - Chateau de Mores. The director of
the state historical society shall maintain and operate the state historical museum located at or<br>near the city of Pembina, in the county of Pembina, and shall have custody of and preserve in the<br>museum at Pembina, for the people of the state of North Dakota, objects of primitive Indian art<br>and other articles of historical value to the state which are acquired for that purpose. The state<br>historical society may accept gifts, donations, or contributions to be used or expended in the<br>maintenance and operation of the historical museum and may transfer the operation of the<br>museum to the city of Pembina upon such terms and conditions as the state historical board may<br>require. The Chateau de Mores at Medora must be maintained and operated as a historic house<br>museum under the direction of the state historical society.
55-02-07. Protection of historical or archaeological artifacts or sites. Any historical
or archaeological artifact or site that is found or located upon any land owned by the state or its
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political subdivisions or otherwise comes into its custody or possession and which is, in the<br>opinion of the director of the state historical society, significant in understanding and interpreting<br>the history and prehistory of the state, may not be destroyed, defaced, altered, removed, or<br>otherwise disposed of in any manner without the approval of the state historical board, unless<br>section 55-02-07.2 applies to the site. Notification of the director's opinion of significance must<br>be communicated to the appropriate governing official. The state historical board through the<br>director, within sixty days of written notification to it by the appropriate governing official of the<br>state or political subdivision's desire, need, or intent to destroy, alter, remove, or otherwise<br>dispose of a significant artifact or site, shall provide the governing official written direction for the<br>care, protection, excavation, storage, destruction, or other disposition of the significant artifact or<br>site. The state and its political subdivisions shall cooperate with the director in identifying and<br>implementing any reasonable alternative to destruction or alteration of any historical or<br>archaeological artifact or site significant in understanding and interpreting the history and<br>prehistory of the state before the state historical board may approve the demolition or alteration.
55-02-07.1. Protection of prehistoric or historic site locational data. The director of
the state historical society may limit access to, and release of, information from files of the state<br>historical society which contain data that specifically identifies the location of archaeological,<br>historical, or paleontological sites in North Dakota. No access to, or release of, information from<br>files that contain site-specific locational data may be made until the director is satisfied that the<br>applicant has a reasonable need for the information contained in those files and professionally<br>acceptable qualifications to assure that release of the information will not result in unnecessary<br>destruction of the resource.
55-02-07.2. Protection of public health and safety on sites having a public function.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the state or a political subdivision has a property<br>interest in real property and that property has an existing public function in addition to any<br>historical site registration or historical significance determination, the governing body of the<br>agency or political subdivision owning the property interest may, subject to the following<br>provisions, improve, alter, modify, or destroy that property if the agency or governing body<br>determines that action is necessary to protect public health or safety, to provide access for<br>disabled persons, or to ensure structural integrity. If an action is to be taken by an agency or<br>governing body under this section, notice of intent to take the action must be given to the director<br>at the onset of the planning process. At the director's request, the agency or governing body<br>shall inform the director of each meeting at which planning or decisions on a project are on the<br>agenda.
At each meeting, the agency or governing body shall provide the director with an
opportunity to comment or provide preservation funding for the proposed project and the agency<br>or governing body shall consider the director's comments or offers of funding in the development<br>and implementation of the project. If the agency or governing body and the director do not agree<br>on the action to be taken, the differences must be submitted to a mediator selected by the<br>governor to facilitate a consensus between the parties. The cost of the mediator must be shared<br>equally by the parties. The mediator shall issue a report within sixty days of appointment by the<br>governor. The report of the mediator must be sent to the director and must be published once in<br>the official newspaper of the political subdivision. Although the agency or governing body may<br>take the action it deems necessary, the agency or governing body shall make all reasonable<br>effort to preserve the historical characteristics of a site taking into consideration economic and<br>technical feasibility. The agency or governing body must notify the director of its decision and<br>must publish it once in the official newspaper of the political subdivision. After mediation, if any, if<br>the governing body of a political subdivision determines to proceed with actions that will result in<br>completely demolishing, removing, or significantly degrading the historical characteristics of a<br>building or real property, a resident of the political subdivision where the building or real property<br>is located may submit a written notice to the county auditor of intention to petition for a public<br>vote. The notice must be filed with the county auditor within fourteen days of the publication of<br>the decision of the governing body. A petition for a public vote must contain the names of at<br>least ten percent of the qualified electors from that governing body's jurisdiction who voted in the<br>last general election and must be filed with the county auditor within one hundred twenty days of<br>the governing body's publication of notice of its final action. If a petition is filed, the matter must<br>be submitted for a vote of the qualified electors at the next special, primary, or general election<br>held in that jurisdiction. All actions to remove, demolish, or significantly degrade the historical
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characteristics of a building or real property are stayed for fourteen days after the governing<br>body's publication of notice of its final action, and if notice of intention to seek a public vote is<br>filed, actions are stayed until either the petition fails or the public vote is held. If the political<br>subdivision is a home rule jurisdiction with its own referendum procedures, however, the home<br>rule referendum procedures apply to the action of the governing body.
55-02-08.
Custody and control of former executive mansion - Maintenance
responsibility.
The custody and control of the former executive mansion located at
320 Avenue B East in the city of Bismarck, North Dakota, with the legal description of lots 3 and<br>4, Block 11, Northern Pacific Addition to the city of Bismarck, is the responsibility of the state<br>historical society.
55-02-09. Historical impact emergency fund - Administration by director of state
historical society - Emergency commission authorization. The director of the state historical<br>society shall administer the historical impact emergency fund for the purpose of emergency<br>mitigation of adverse effects on cultural resources and historical buildings, structures, or objects<br>in the state. The director may use the moneys in the historical impact emergency fund only after<br>the emergency commission has authorized the proposed use and expenditure. The historical<br>impact emergency fund may receive moneys from unexpended appropriations for the state<br>historical society, by legislative appropriation, and by gift, grant, devise, or bequest of any money<br>or property to the fund. The historical impact emergency fund may not receive moneys from the<br>state historical society's unexpended appropriations when the fund balance is greater than two<br>hundred fifty thousand dollars. When the historical impact emergency fund balance is greater<br>than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, any unexpended appropriations for the state historical<br>society are canceled. The fund is not subject to section 54-44.1-11 and all income and moneys<br>derived from the investment of the fund must be credited to the fund.
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Document Outline
chapter 55-02 state historical board director
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