North Dakota AG Opinions, 1953

OPINION 53-16 May 19, 1953 (OPINION) CONTRACT RE: Material - Preference This will confirm our opinion of May 18, 1953, which was given to you by telephone and in answer to Mr. Seifert's letter of May 15, 1953. Our opinion was requested in regard to Senate Bill No. 168, which was enacted into law at the recent session of the Legislature and which provides for competitive bidding on native materials used in public buildings. Specifications were enclosed with Mr. Seifert's letter whereby brick manufacturers were asked to quote unit prices to the contractor who would in turn inclu

OPINION 53-69 May 15, 1953 (OPINION) LAW ENFORCEMENT RE: Extraordinary expenses due to Federal Agencies This is in response to your letter of May 7, wherein you state as follows: "I have been requested to ask for an opinion from your office as to whether the purchase of a stationary short wave radio installation to be used at Riverdale would be within the provisions of chapter 6 of the 1951 session laws, relating to the reimbursement of extraordinary expenses of law enforcement in this county. "The county now has a permanent installation at the sheriff's office in Washburn an

OPINION 53-38 May 14, 1953 (OPINION) ESTATE TAX RE: Exemption - Foreign and North Dakota We have yours of May 2, 1953 requesting and opinion from this office as to the proper interpretation and application of Subsection 4, section 57-3712 of the N.D.R.C. of 1943, which reads as follows: "If a part only of the property of the estate is taxable within this state, there shall be allowed and deducted as exemptions only such percentage of the amounts of exemptions herein specified as the property taxable within this state, above liens, is of all the property of the estate above lien

OPINION 53-74 May 7, 1953 (OPINION) MILITARY RE: Compulsory - Agricultural College and State University We are in receipt of your letter of May 5, 1953, in which you ask whether or not a student attending the University of North Dakota or the North Dakota Agricultural College may be compelled to actively attend Reserve Officers Training Corps instruction. You refer to section 15-1021 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943, which reads as follows: MILITARY INSTRUCTION REQUIRED. The university and the agricultural college shall give theoretical and practical instruction in m

OPINION 53-110 May 7, 1953 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Exemption Farm Structures Your letter of the sixth instant asking for an interpretation of the above section has come to my desk. On February 19, 1947, this office gave an opinion prepared by I.A. Acker, which answers most of your questions. We are enclosing herewith a copy of this opinion. It seems not to have been included in the published opinions of the Attorney General for 1946 to 1948. We are of the opinion that within the purview of the statute, there are but two classes of real property, to-wit, urban and agricultura

OPINION 53-98 May 4, 1953 (OPINION) PLUMBING RE: Conflict - City and State Regulations It has been brought to our attention that a certain amount of confusion exists as to the effect of the state plumbing code in cities or village which have adopted municipal plumbing codes. Somecity attorneys, it appears, have taken the view that the state code has no application in municipalities having plumbing codes of their own adoption. To clarify any misunderstanding in this regard, we herewith set out our thinking on this subject at the request of the State Plumbing Board. The state p

OPINION 53-99 April 29, 1953 (OPINION) SCHOOL DISTRICTS RE: Taxpayers Liability for Bond Issue You state that a party having land in a district which has been reorganized and now has in existence a bond issue of $168,000, desires to transfer into another reorganized district which has had a favorable vote on a bond issue by transferring into such school district prior to the time that the county auditor spreads the same on his books. It is our opinion that he will be subject to this second bond issue, under the state of facts you set out. As a property owner in the district

OPINION 53-64 April 28, 1953 (OPINION) INSTITUTIONS RE: Manufacture of Motor Vehicle Plates This is in reply to your letter of April 28, wherein you state the following question: "I would like an opinion as to whether or not we may loan tag plant equipment to some other processing plant so as to enable said plant to make license plates for the Motor Vehicle Department of the state of North Dakota. "Our tag plant was destroyed by fire some weeks age. We are planning the construction of a new building and have selected the equipment for the new plant. We will not be in a pos

OPINION 53-91 April 24, 1953 (OPINION) OIL AND GAS RE: Indian Lands - Jurisdiction - State or Federal We are in receipt of your letter of April 17, 1953, in which you ask about the application of state oil and gas conservation laws to drilling operations on Indian Reservations located in this state. In the first instance we are confronted with Section 203, Article XVI of the Constitution of North Dakota, which reads in part: "* * *Second. The people inhabiting this state do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lyi

OPINION 53-89 April 22, 1953 (OPINION) OIL AND GAS RE: Broker's License We have your request of April 21, 1953, for an opinion as to the application of Senate Bill No. 35 of the 1953 Legislative Assembly to the following questions. A certain party has asked you if he comes within the provisions of said Senate Bill No. 35 under the following facts: "I might say that I have bought some minerals and if I get a right price I will sell them or rather part of them. Also quite a few people come in and ask where they can sell minerals. I sometimes find them buyer but I do not purc

OPINION 53-13 April 22, 1953 (OPINION) CHILDREN'S HOMES RE: Registration for Temporary Use This is in reply to your letter of April 14, 1953. You state that the Indian Bureau is about to close all their high schools and that among these schools is the Elbowoods High School with ninety students. You state that these students and other future students who would have attended there will be sent in part to Indian schools, but about forty-five will have to arrange to attend regular high schools in such communities as New Town, Garrison, Hazen and Stanton. You state that these st

OPINION 53-111 April 22, 1953 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Indians - Personal Property In your letter of April 13, 1953, you state that certain Indians now live in the city of Parshall upon lots which are government owned and exempt from taxation. You may ask if these Indians may be assessed and taxed on their possession as personal property. It is our opinion that they may be so taxed. Tribal Indians living on a reservation may in some cases not be subject to a personal property taxation by a state, depending upon the nature and origin of the personal property. But Indians livin

OPINION 53-125 April 17, 1953 (OPINION) WAR MEMORIAL RE: Exempt from Taxation In your letter of the 15th inst. you state that a question has arisen as to the exemption from taxation of your local memorial hall. You state that in 1949 your county commissioners approved a levy for a war memorial as authorized by section 11-3201 1949 Supplement. We assume that this levy has been or will be collected and used, with contributed funds from other sources, for the construction of such a memorial. You state that the memorial building was built so that the first floor provided offic

OPINION 53-119 April 8, 1953 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Where Personal Property Assessed Yours of the 6th inst, re proper place of assessing personal property, has come to my desk. You state that a certain person residing in your county owns land in Leonard Township and also in Finnegan Township, both townships being in your county. You state, further, that this person maintains his home and residence on the farm in Leonard Township. His children attend school in Leonard School District of which Leonard Township is a part, and you further state that Finnegan Township is not a p

OPINION 53-17 April 7, 1953 (OPINION) CORPORATIONS RE: Duration of Cooperatives This office is in receipt of your request of March 30, 1953, dealing with the corporate duration of the Farmers Cooperative Corporations organized under chapter 10-15 of the N.D.R.C. of 1943. The inquiry is prompted because of the request from the Farmers Union Central Exchange, Incorporated, of St. Paul, in which they set forth that they are contemplating amending the corporate charter of all their farmers cooperative oil companies affiliated with the Farmers Union Central Exchange and in which t

OPINION 53-70 March 20, 1953 (OPINION) LEGISLATION RE: Discrepancy in Recorded Proceedings We have a request from your office for an opinion to determine the correctness of House Bill 819 relating to county officers' salaries recently passed by the legislative assembly of North Dakota which amends section 11-10102 of the 1949 supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. It appears from your request that there is a discrepancy between the recorded proceedings of the House and Senate and that of the enrolled and engrossed bill. In checking this matter, we find that Hous

OPINION 53-71 March 18, 1953 (OPINION) LEGISLATION RE: Vote Required for Initiated Measure We have your request for an opinion as to the vote needed in the House and Senate of the Thirty-third Legislative Assembly to legally pass Senate Bill 269. In searching the records, we find that the law establishing the Board of Administration was originally passed in 1919. Thereupon the said measure was submitted to the people of the state on a referendum petition and was approved by the people in the 1920 election. Thereafter, we find that the 1931 legislative assembly enacted chapte

OPINION 53-83 March 2, 1953 (OPINION) MUNICIPALITIES RE: Operation of Public Utility We have yours of February 26, 1953, presenting the following question for an opinion from this department. Could revenue bonds be issued by a municipality for the construction of a central heating plant, whether or not it is connected with any other public utility?" Section 40-3503 of the 1949 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943, provides, among others, the following provision: Any municipality, in addition to the powers prescribed elsewhere by the laws of this state, shall hav

OPINION 53-112 March 2, 1953 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Levy for Advertising Purposes This office acknowledges receipt of your inquiry of February 26, 1953, asking for an interpretation of Section 57-15101 of the 1949 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 which provides that counties and cities may levy for certain advertising purposes a tax not in excess of one-half mill on the dollar of the net taxable valuation of the county or city having a population in excess of 3,000, for the purpose of advertising the resources and processing opportunities in North Dakota and

OPINION 53-81 February 19, 1953 (OPINION) MOTOR VEHICLES RE: Unsatisfied Judgment Claims You have asked our opinion with regard to a matter involving the Unsatisfied Judgment Fund. You state that a case has arisen in which the defendant has been admittedly negligent in leaving upon a highway of this state a house trailer around which no warning lights or flares have been placed. We have found from our investigation and from discussion with you that defendant had been proceeding north on highway 22 in his automobile, attached to which had been the house trailer. A wheel havin

OPINION 53-88 February 3, 1953 (OPINION) OFFICERS RE: Public - Term of Lieutenant Governor We have your inquiry of January 30, 1953, asking that an opinion be rendered by this office as to when the term of office of lieutenant governor officially begins after election. Article III, Section 71 of the Constitution of the State of North Dakota provides that the executive power shall be vested in a governor, who shall reside at the seat of government and shall hold his office for the term of two years and until his successor is elected and duly qualified. Section 72 of the same ar

OPINION 53-110 February 3, 1953 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Exemption of Certain Structures You have asked our opinion upon an interpretation of section 57-0208(15) of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943, which section exempts from taxation buildings located on agricultural lands and comprising part of the farm plant. In the case in question, the taxpayer has located a chicken hatchery on an eight-acre tract of land outside the city limits of Bismarck. The land is used exclusively for the hatching and marketing of chickens and no crops whatsoever are grown on the land. The taxpa

OPINION 53-126 January 22, 1953 (OPINION) WAR MEMORIAL FUND RE: What Constitutes War Memorial Referring to your letter of today relative to H.B. 585, proposed for enactment at this session, we cannot, of course, say just what may be built as a memorial under this Act. That can only be done by the courts when considering a distinct proposed memorial as in the case of Ophaug et al v. Hildre et al. 77 N.D. 221, 42 N.W. 2d 438. in that case the court said that the law, chapter 125 S.L. 1947, was intended to furnish "sufficient funds but to leave the matter of this kind of mem

OPINION 53-7 January 13, 1953 (OPINION) APPROPRIATIONS RE: Withholding a Twenty-five Percent For Last Quarter In yours of January ninth you ask our opinion as to the application of section 54-2710 N.D.R.C. to the several states of fact recited in your letter. Section 54-2710 provides that, of appropriations made for the maintenance of any state institution, department, board, commission or bureau, twenty-five percent thereof must be conserved and be available only at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the biennium. This department has consistently held that this statute re

OPINION 53-30 January 8, 1953 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: School District Qualified for Special Federal Aid Our opinion has been asked as to whether your school district has fully complied with the requirements and intent of chapter X, Department of Defense, Flood Control, providing for the building of a school house for your district. This provision requires that your district furnish "the maximum amount of money which can be provided through a bond issue within the general debt limitation permitted for such school district". We understand that your district has issued and sold

OPINION 53-28 January 8, 1953 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Disposal of Money Received on Sale of Abandoned School House In yours of today you state that your school district had a school house that had been unused for six years and that the electors of the district had authorized the sale of the building. Upon the sale the sum of four thousand five hundred twelve dollars was realized and now the question is, what may this money be used for? You state three different proposals for the use of the money and we will answer these in order. One: We know of no law authorizing a schoo