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2020 North Dakota Century Code
Title 54 - State Government
Chapter 54-66 - State Government Ethics

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CHAPTER 54-66 STATE GOVERNMENT ETHICS 54-66-01. Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Accused individual" means a lobbyist, public official, candidate for public office, political committee, or contributor who is alleged to have violated article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota, this chapter, or another law or rule regarding transparency, corruption, elections, or lobbying. 2. "Complainant" means an individual who, in writing or verbally, submits a complaint to the commission. 3. "Complaint" means a verbal or written allegation to the commission that a lobbyist, public official, candidate for public office, political committee, or contributor has violated article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota, this chapter, or another law or rule regarding transparency, corruption, elections, or lobbying. 4. "Ethics commission" or "commission" means the North Dakota ethics commission established by article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota. 5. "Gift" means any item, service, or thing of value not given in exchange for fair market consideration including travel and recreation, except: a. Purely informational material; b. A campaign contribution; and c. An item, service, or thing of value given under conditions that do not raise ethical concerns, as set forth in rules adopted by the ethics commission, to advance opportunities for state residents to meet with public officials in educational and social settings in the state. 6. "Influence state government action" means promoting or opposing the adoption of a rule by an administrative agency or the commission under chapter 28-32. 7. "Lobby" means an activity listed in subsection 1 of section 54-05.1-02. 8. "Lobbyist" means an individual required to register under section 54-05.1-03. 9. "Public official" means an elected or appointed official of the state's executive or legislative branch, members of the commission, members of the governor's cabinet, and employees of the legislative branch. 10. "Receives the complaint" means one or more members of the commission learn of the complaint. 11. "Ultimate and true source" means the person that knowingly contributed over two hundred dollars solely to lobby or influence state government action. 54-66-02. Disclosure of ultimate and true source of funds. (Effective after January 4, 2021) 1. A lobbyist who expends an amount greater than two hundred dollars to lobby shall file with the secretary of state a report that includes the known ultimate and true source of funds for the expenditure. The report must be filed with the lobbyist expenditure report required under subsection 2 of section 54-05.1-03. 2. A person that expends an amount greater than two hundred dollars, not including the individual's own travel expenses and membership dues, to influence state government action shall file with the secretary of state a report including the known ultimate and true source of funds for the expenditure. A report under this subsection must be filed on or before the August first following the date of the expenditure. The secretary of state shall provide a form for reports under this subsection and make the form electronically accessible to the public. The secretary of state also shall charge and collect fees for late filing of the reports as follows: a. Twenty-five dollars for a report filed within sixty days after the deadline; or b. Fifty dollars for a report filed more than sixty days after the deadline. 3. The secretary of state shall compile the reports required under this section and make the reports electronically accessible to the public. Page No. 1 4. 5. A resident taxpayer may commence an action in a district court of this state against a person required to comply with this section to compel compliance if all other enforcement measures under this chapter have been exhausted and the taxpayer reasonably believes the person has failed to comply with this section. The secretary of state shall determine adjustments for inflation of the reporting thresholds in this section and instruct persons submitting reports under this section of the adjustments. On January first of each year, the secretary shall determine whether the accumulated change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (all items, United States city average), as applied to each reporting threshold in this section, would result in an adjustment of at least ten dollars of the threshold in effect on that date. If so, the secretary of state shall deem the reporting threshold adjusted by ten dollars. 54-66-03. Lobbyist gifts - Penalty. (Effective after January 4, 2021) 1. A lobbyist may not give, offer, solicit, initiate, or facilitate a gift knowingly to a public official, and a public official may not accept a gift from a lobbyist knowingly. 2. The prohibition in subsection 1 does not apply when a lobbyist gives, offers, solicits, initiates, or facilitates, or a public official accepts a gift to or from a family member. 3. The secretary of state shall assess a civil penalty upon any individual who violates this section. a. If the gift has a value of five hundred dollars or more, the civil penalty must be two times the value of the gift. b. If the gift has a value of less than five hundred dollars, the civil penalty must be no less than two times the value of the gift and may be up to one thousand dollars. 54-66-04. Ethics commission member terms - Meetings - Code of ethics Compensation - Office. 1. The terms of the initial members of the ethics commission must be staggered to ensure no more than two members' terms expire in one year. The terms of the initial members may be less than four years to accommodate the required staggering of terms. 2. Unless the complaint at issue has resulted in the imposition of a penalty or referral for enforcement under section 54-66-09, any portion of a meeting during which commission members discuss complaints, informal resolutions, attempts to informally resolve complaints, investigations, or referrals under this chapter, the identity of an accused individual or complainant, or any other matter arising from a complaint are closed meetings. 3. The commission shall abide by a code of ethics adopted in a public meeting. The code of ethics must specify when a commission member is disqualified from participating in matters before the commission. 4. Ethics commission members are entitled to: a. Compensation for each day necessarily spent conducting commission business in the amount provided for members of the legislative management under section 54-35-10; and b. Payment for mileage and travel expenses necessarily incurred in the conduct of commission business as provided under sections 44-08-04 and 54-06-09. 5. The director of the office of management and budget shall allocate office space in the state capitol for the ethics commission, or, if office space in the capitol is unavailable, shall negotiate for, contract for, and obtain office space for the ethics commission in the city of Bismarck or in the Bismarck area. The ethics commission's office space may not be located in the office space of any other government agency, board, commission, or other governmental entity, and must provide sufficient privacy and security for the ethics commission to conduct its business. The director shall charge the ethics commission an amount equal to the fair value of the office space and related services the office of management and budget renders to the ethics commission. Page No. 2 54-66-05. Making a complaint. A complaint may be made to the commission orally or in writing. If a complainant does not provide the complainant's name, address, and telephone number with the complaint, the ethics commission may not investigate, refer, or take other action regarding the complaint. The commission shall summarize each oral complaint in writing unless the complaint must be disregarded under this section. 54-66-06. Informing the accused individual - Written response permitted. The commission shall inform an accused individual by registered mail of the identity of the complainant who made the allegation against the accused individual and include the written complaint or written summary of the oral complaint as soon as reasonably possible but no later than twenty calendar days after the commission receives the complaint. The accused individual may respond to the complaint in writing within twenty calendar days of receipt of the complaint or summary of the complaint. 54-66-07. Informal resolution. The commission shall attempt to negotiate or mediate an informal resolution between the accused individual and the complainant unless the commission disregards the complaint pursuant to section 54-66-05 or for any other reason. The accused individual may be accompanied by legal counsel in a negotiation or mediation. 54-66-08. Investigations - Referrals. 1. If an informal resolution is not reached under section 54-66-07, the ethics commission may: a. Disregard the complaint; b. Require ethics commission staff to investigate the allegations in the complaint; or c. Engage an outside investigator to investigate allegations in the complaint. 2. If the commission believes a complaint contains allegations of criminal conduct, the ethics commission shall refer the allegations of criminal conduct to the bureau of criminal investigations or other law enforcement agency and may not take further action on the referred allegations. The commission shall inform the accused individual by registered mail of a referral under this section and the nature of the referred allegations as soon as reasonably possible. 54-66-09. Investigation findings - Ethics commission determinations. 1. An investigator, other than a law enforcement agency, of a complaint shall provide written findings of the investigation to the ethics commission within a reasonable amount of time. The ethics commission shall provide copies of the written findings to the accused individual, who may respond to the commission in person or in writing within a reasonable time. If the accused individual responds in person, no fewer than three members of the commission shall meet in a closed meeting with the accused individual. An accused individual may be accompanied by legal counsel when responding to the commission in person. 2. After providing a reasonable time for an accused individual to respond to the investigation findings and considering any response to the findings, the ethics commission shall determine whether a violation of article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota, this chapter, or another law or rule regarding transparency, corruption, elections, or lobbying occurred, and inform the accused individual of the determination. If the commission determined a violation occurred, the commission may impose a penalty authorized by law for the violation or refer the matter to the agency with enforcement authority over the violation. 3. The commission may not terminate the employment of a public official or otherwise remove a public official from the public official's public office. 4. The ethics commission may not reconsider, invalidate, or overturn a decision, ruling, recommended finding of fact, recommended conclusion of law, finding of fact, Page No. 3 conclusion of law, or order by a hearing officer under chapter 28-32 on the grounds the hearing officer failed to grant a request for disqualification under section 28-32-27 or failed to comply with subsection 5 of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota. 54-66-10. Appeals. An accused individual may appeal a finding of the ethics commission to the district court of the county where the accused individual resides. 54-66-11. Rulemaking. When adopting rules, the ethics commission shall follow the provisions in chapter 28-32 which are specifically applicable to the commission. 54-66-12. Confidential information. 1. The following information is a confidential record as defined in section 44-04-17.1, unless the commission has determined the accused individual violated article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota, this chapter, or another law or rule regarding transparency, corruption, elections, or lobbying, and a court affirmed the determination if appealed, except the information may be disclosed as required by law or as necessary to conduct an investigation arising from a complaint: a. Information revealing the contents of a complaint; b. Information that reasonably may be used to identify an accused individual; and c. Information relating to or created as part of an investigation of a complaint. 2. If a complaint is informally resolved under section 54-66-07, the following information is a confidential record as defined in section 44-04-17.1: a. Information revealing the contents of the complaint; b. Information that reasonably may be used to identify the accused individual; c. Information relating to or created as part of the process leading to the informal resolution; and d. Information revealing the informal resolution. 3. Information that reasonably may be used to identify the complainant is confidential unless the complainant waives confidentiality, authorizes its disclosure, or divulges information that reasonably would identify the complainant. However, the ethics commission shall notify an accused individual of the identity of the complainant who made an allegation against the accused individual, and the information deemed confidential under this subsection may be disclosed as required by law or as necessary to conduct an investigation arising from a complaint. 4. The information deemed confidential in subsections 1 and 2 may be disclosed by the ethics commission if the accused individual agrees to the disclosure. 54-66-13. Restriction on lobbying by public officials - Penalty. A knowing violation of subsection 2 of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota is a class A misdemeanor. The ethics commission shall assess a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars on any individual who knowingly violates the subsection. 54-66-14. Attorney general to provide legal services. The attorney general shall serve as legal counsel for the commission unless the commission objects to representation by the attorney general in a specific matter. When a conflict of interest prevents the attorney general from providing legal services to the commission, the attorney general may appoint a special assistant attorney general to serve as legal counsel for the commission. 54-66-15. Prohibition on delivering campaign contributions - Penalty. A lobbyist may not deliver knowingly a campaign contribution made by another person in violation of subsection 3 of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota. For a first Page No. 4 violation, the secretary of state shall assess a civil penalty of five hundred dollars upon any individual who knowingly violates this section. For a second and subsequent knowing violation of this section, the person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and, if the lobbyist is a registered lobbyist, the secretary of state may revoke the lobbyist's registration. For purposes of this section, "deliver" means to transport, transfer, or otherwise transmit, either physically or electronically. This prohibition does not apply to an individual who delivers a campaign contribution to the individual's own campaign or to the campaign of the individual's immediate family member. This prohibition may not be interpreted to prohibit any person from making a campaign contribution, encouraging others to make a campaign contribution, or otherwise supporting or opposing a candidate. 54-66-16. Removal of ethics commission members. 1. An ethics commission member may be removed from office for: a. Substantial neglect of duty; b. Gross misconduct in office; c. Violation of the commission's code of ethics; or d. Willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of the member. 2. Removal of an ethics commission member under subsection 1 requires agreement by a majority of: a. The governor; b. The majority leader of the senate; and c. The minority leader of the senate. 54-66-17. Participation in quasi-judicial proceedings. For purposes of subsection 5 of section 2 of article XIV of the Constitution of North Dakota, an individual is not disqualified from participating in any capacity in a quasi-judicial proceeding, including an adjudicative proceeding under chapter 28-32, due to an investment in a mutual fund, an ownership interest in one of the parties to the proceeding which is shared by the general public, and an investment or ownership interest in a retirement account of one of the parties to the proceeding. Page No. 5
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