North Dakota AG Opinions, 1959

OPINION 59-169 June 18, 1959 (OPINION) MOTOR VEHICLES RE: Additional Fee - Exceptions - Farmers This is in reply to your request for a clarification as to whether a party having bees and engaging in the honey business only is considered a farmer under chapter 39-04A of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 so that he would not be subject to the ton fee tax for the truck used to transport the bees from one location to another in this state where the truck has a gross weight of more than twelve thousand pounds. You also state that it is your understanding t

OPINION 59-86 June 10, 1959 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Organization and Dissolution of Special School Districts - Adjacent Territory Attached - Adjustment of Assets and Liabilities We have received your letter with reference to interpretation of section 15-4719 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. Your problem arises where an annexing district under section 15-2714 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 has offered territory to be annexed to become annexed without assuming any part of the bonded indebtedness of the annexing district. Section 15-4719 provides for a board of

OPINION 59-166 June 9, 1959 (OPINION) MINING AND GAS AND OIL PRODUCTION RE: Control of Gas and Oil Resources - Jurisdiction of Commission - Bonds This is in reply to your letter of June 2, 1959, in which you state that the recent Legislature enacted a law amending the 1953 Oil and Gas Conservation Statute insofar as the requirement of a drilling bond is concerned. You ask the opinion of this office on the following points: 1. Will it be necessary for the surety on bonds currently in force to supply some form of acknowledgement that the bonds now in effect comply with the pr

OPINION 59-271 June 8, 1959 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Refund Motor Fuel Tax - Assignment of Refund Claim This is in reply to your request for an opinion on Senate Bill No. 115 of the 1959 Legislature which amended and reenacted section 57-5011 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943. The question is: Whether or not the assignments of refund claims on motor fuels can be legally made even though the product is not paid for by the purchaser, during the period set forth in the new Act." The Senate Bill No. 115 adds additional language to section 57-5011. This new language is

June 8, 1959 (OPINION) PUBLIC WELFARE RE: Children's Psychiatric Clinic - Joint Venture We have received your letter of June 1, 1959, wherein you state that the Board of Administration has been requested to consider a joint venture with the Lutheran Welfare group of Fargo, North Dakota, in a child welfare program. The total cost would be approximately $40,000.00, $20,000.00 of which would be contributed by the Board of Administration out of funds appropriated by S.B. 108 enacted by the last legislative assembly. We have carefully considered S.B. 108, and it appears to us that y

OPINION 59-194 June 5, 1959 (OPINION) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RE: Municipal Memorial Levy - Armory Levy - Expenditure This is in reply to your letter of May 27, 1959, in which you ask for an opinion of this office concerning section 40-5901 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. Your question is stated as follows: "The question has arisen as to the uses for which the funds derived from such tax may be spent. Must such funds be spent solely for building repairs, alteration, reconstruction and actual building maintenance such as painting and other prot

OPINION 59-113 June 4, 1959 (OPINION) GOVERNMENTAL FINANCE RE: Bonds - Debt Limit We have examined transcript showing proceedings of the above municipality in regard to issuance of bonds and in regard to increase of debt limit. From examination of same, it is out opinion that the district has substantially complied with the applicable statutes and it is therefore our conclusion that the municipality has increased its debt limit to ten percent of one hundred percent of assessed valuation of the district and that it may now issue its bonds for the purpose expressed in the initi

OPINION 59-290 June 3, 1959 (OPINION) WATERS RE: Water Conservation Commission - International Stream - Utilization of Allocated Waters We are in receipt of your letter of June 2, 1959, with references to the urgent need of the City of Westhope to obtain water from the Souris River for the city's municipal requirements and for domestic use of its inhabitants. You say in your letter that Westhope has been granted the right to appropriate water from the Souris River but due to the fact that lands lying adjacent to the river are owned by the federal government, and are under the

OPINION 59-218 June 2, 1959 (OPINION) OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS RE: Dentists - Dental Laboratories - Prescription This is in reply to your letter of May 18, 1959, concerning the new dental practice act adopted by the recent session of the Legislature. You wish to know if North Dakota dental laboratories must require a prescription from dentists who practice in adjacent states. The pertinent provisions of Senate Bill No. 163, the dental practice act, are as follows: SECTION 2. EXCEPTIONS. The provisions of this Act shall not apply: 1. To the filling of written prescript

OPINION 59-26 May 29, 1959 (OPINION) AGRICULTURE RE: Wheat Commission - Power to Borrow This is in reply to your request for an opinion whether or not the North Dakota State Wheat Commission may borrow money to carry on its program and project under the provisions of Senate Bill No. 166 of the 1959 Legislature. It is further stated that in borrowing such money the credit of the state or the state agencies would not be pledged, and that the money would be repaid from the revenue resulting from the tax on wheat sold. In reviewing the provisions of Senate Bill No. 166, it is not

OPINION 59-256 May 25, 1959 (OPINION) STATE GOVERNMENT RE: Merit System Council - Powers and Duties - Compensation Plan This is in reply to your request for an opinion on section 3 of chapter 332 of the 1957 Session Laws which is section 54-4203 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943. More specifically subsection 2 of said chapter. You submitted the following questions: 1. In establishing rules covering the establishment of compensation plans, does the Council have final authority to determine what compensation plans will be maintained by the agencies covered by t

OPINION 59-163 May 25, 1959 (OPINION) MINING AND GAS AND OIL PRODUCTION RE: Control of Gas and Oil Resources - Commission Sets Spacing Units - Exception to Spacing Pattern In reply to the request of the North Dakota Industrial Commission for an opinion concerning the original jurisdiction of the commission to grant drilling exceptions to spacing patterns already established by the commission, we understand the facts to be as follows: At a recent hearing of the Industrial Commission an application was made for an exception to the drilling pattern established by the commission in

OPINION 59-51 May 20, 1959 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: County Highway Engineer - Mileage Allowance This is in reply to your request for an opinion on the question which has arisen in your county as to whether the county engineer and those employed by him are entitled to mileage under section 11-1015, or whether the mileage is a matter within the discretion of the county board. The county engineer is created by chapter 11-31. The county engineer, serving as such, under chapter 11-31 is a county officer within the meaning of section 11-1015. Persons employed as assistants to the

OPINION 59-149 May 20, 1959 (OPINION) JUDICIAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT RE: Retirement of Judges - Retirement Salary This is in reply to your request for an opinion dated May 19, 1959. In your request you state that you have received numerous inquires from retired judges pertaining to Senate Bill No. 74 as passed by the thirty-sixth legislative assembly. Your question is whether under the judges retirement program, chapter 27-17 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943, retired judges are entitled to increased retirement benefits as the result of the increase in judges' salar

OPINION 59-149 May 20, 1959 (OPINION) JUDICIAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT RE: Jurors - Fees and Mileage This is in reply to your inquiry of May 15, 1959, in which you ask whether or not jurors are entitled to mileage to their homes each night while on jury duty. Basically compensation and mileage to jurors for service rests on statutory provision rather than common law. Section 27-0905 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 as hereinafter set out is controlling. FEES AND MILEAGE FOR JURORS. A juror shall receive: 1. Six dollars, payable by the county, for each day's a

OPINION 59-98 May 20, 1959 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: State Equalization Fund - Non-High School Districts - Tuition Payments We have received your request for an opinion with reference to tuition payments. By statute, all non-high school districts must pay tuition fees based on the average county cost of education less payments from the county and state equalization funds. The combined amount paid annually per pupil from these funds is now $234.00. Effective July 1, 1959, the new foundation program becomes effective. This new law reduces the payment to $198.00. The paymen

OPINION 59-83 May 19, 1959 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Foundation Finance Program - Appropriation We have received your request for an opinion with reference to the following problem: House Bill No. 551 passed by the last legislative assembly is the new foundation finance program in education. This new program will require more money to operate than the present program. The legislature overlooked this and appropriated only on the basis of the present program. This will leave a deficit or shortage, and you ask what your department shall do under the circumstances. House Bill

OPINION 59-53 May 1, 1959 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: General Provisions - Mileage of Officials - Public Health Nurses This is in reply to your request for an opinion on the question whether section 11-1015 as amended by House Bill 631 or section 23-1410 as amended by House Bill 767 governs and controls mileage allowances for public health nurses. Section 11-1015 as amended substantially provides that "unless other wise provided by the laws of this state, every county official whether elective or appointive, . . . shall be allowed . . . . ten cents per mile when such travel is by mo

OPINION 59-266.doc May 1, 1959 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Levies and Limitations - Park Districts - Levy Increase This is in reply to your letter of April 24, 1959, requesting and interpretation of subsection 3 of section 57-1512 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943. You wish to know if this section permits an increase of the levy from four to fourteen mills or if it restricts the increase from four mills to a maximum of ten mills. The section reads as follows: 3. Whenever the board of park commissioners deem it advisable to raise moneys by taxes in excess of the levy

OPINION 59-17 April 28, 1959 (OPINION) AGRICULTURE RE: State Seed Department - Certified Seed; Labeling This is in reply to your letter of March 31, 1959, in which you enclosed a tag from a seed being sold in North Dakota. You state that your department objected to this tag on the grounds that it bears the word "Registered" in a rather prominent place. Your basis for this objection was section 4-0917 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 which reads as follows: CERTIFIED SEED; REGULATIONS GOVERNING LABELING AND REPRESENTING. No seed grown in North Dakota, or grown els

OPINION 59-221 April 23, 1959 (OPINION) OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS RE: Professional Nurses - Scholarships Qualification of Candidates I have received your letter of April 14, 1959, in which you state that at a recent meeting of the North Dakota Nursing Scholarship Committee the question was raised as to whether or not the Committee could require a nursing scholarship recipient to be employed in only one hospital or institution in North Dakota when fulfilling her obligation to the state of North Dakota. It is my understanding of your letter that you refer to section 43-1228 of

OPINION 59-263 April 22, 1959 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: General Property Assessment - Exempt Property - Veterans' Organizations This is in reply to your letter of April sixteenth asking for an opinion as to whether the hotel portion of a building purchased by the VFW Club in Valley City should be exempt even though the VFW intends to continue to operate the hotel portion as a public hotel by leasing out its fifty rooms to individuals other than members. You state that the building is a large business building known as the Valley Hotel in which the VFW had leased club rooms which

OPINION 59-32 April 16, 1959 (OPINION) BANKS AND BANKING RE: Powers of Banks - Interest on Loans; Rate This is in reply to your request for an opinion on the following set of facts: A bank establishes an open line of credit for a client of $1,000, and the client issues a special check for $100 in January , which check immediately becomes a note of $100, upon payment of the bank, with a charge of 1 percent per month on this $100, if not repaid within 7 months, the interest charge would exceed the allowable rate of 7 percent per annum. You then ask whether or not a bank may oper

OPINION 59-229 April 15, 1959 (OPINION) OFFICES AND OFFICERS RE: Miscellaneous Provisions - Expense Account - Lodging Expenses This is in reply to your request for an opinion whether or not it is proper to split or divide the charge for lodging by charging one-half of the room to one day's expense and one-half to the next succeeding day's expense. The question comes under section 44-0804, 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. The material portion of this section states; No elective officer . . . . nor any appointive officer, employee, . . . of this state,

OPINION 59-161 April 15, 1959 (OPINION) MILEAGE RATES RE: Public Health Nurses, Juvenile Commissioners, District Judges Welfare Employees, and County Agents This is in reply to your letter of April 10, 1959, in which you ask if the county mileage or the state mileage statutes would pertain to the following personnel: Public health nurses Juvenile commissioners District judges Welfare employees County agents Public Health Nurses Section 23-1410 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 governs the mileage paid to public health nurses appointed by a health district organized

OPINION 59-151 April 10, 1959 (OPINION) JUSTICE COURT RE: Criminal Actions - Indigent Defendant - Attorney not appointed f This is in reply to your request for an opinion whether or not under the North Dakota laws an indigent defendant is entitled to a court appointed attorney at public expense in matters before a police magistrate or justice of the peace. The question as to when a defendant is entitled to an attorney at public expense to be appointed by the court is far from settled in this country. There are some views expressed that the constitutional guarantee relates onl

OPINION 59-132 April 9, 1959 (OPINION) HIGHWAYS RE: Utility or Transmission Lines, Construction - County Highways This is in reply to your of March 23, 1959 requesting an opinion of this office in regard to the interpretation of House Bill No. 811 of the 1959 Legislature. You first call our attention to section 1 of the Act providing that no electrical supply or communication line shall be constructed parallel to and within seventy-seven feet of the center line of any county highway right-of-way, without first obtaining the consent of the board of county commissioners. You re

OPINION 59-111 April 6, 1959 (OPINION) FIRES RE: Rural Fire Protection Districts - Powers of Directors - Mortgage This is in reply to your letter of March 25, 1959, concerning the power of rural fire protection districts to mortgage property. You ask if the board of directors of such districts has the power to mortgage property and if they have such power is a bank making a loan secured by such mortgage confined by the limitations regarding real estate loans. As you have noted in your letter, section 18-1006(7) of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 p

OPINION 59-159 April 4, 1959 (OPINION) LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT RE: Referred Measure, Approved - Effective When This is in reply to your letter of 30 March 1959 thanking us for our cooperation in providing you with information you have been requesting and requesting further information. Your specific question is stated as: "If Senate Bill 73 is referred to the general election of 1960 would this law go into effect prior to the general election of 1960? If so, when?" In the terms of section 25 of the North Dakota Constitution: "Seven thousand electors at large may, by refe

OPINION 59-12 April 4, 1959 (OPINION) AGRICULTURE RE: County Agent - Mileage and Expenses This is in reply to your request for an official interpretation of the house bills mentioned below and the questions relative thereto. House Bill 631 which provides an increase in mileage for all county officials, whether elective or appointive, etc.: Question 1 - Do County Agents come under this Bill? Question 2 - Assuming they do, what is the official date of the approval of the bill or what date can they start increasing their mileage rate? Question 3 - What relationship from the Count

OPINION 59-106 April 2, 1959 (OPINION) ELECTIONS RE: Precincts and Voting Places - County Commissioners - Designation of Voting Place This is in reply to your request for an opinion dated March 24, 1959, on the question relative to the authority of the board of county commissioners to designate a polling place for a general election for a township having within its boundaries an incorporated city or village. The question apparently arises under the provisions of section 16-0906 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. "TOWNSHIP MAY HAVE VOTING PLACE WI

OPINION 59-285 March 24, 1959 (OPINION) TOWNSHIPS RE: Powers of Townships - Contribution for Extra - Township Memorial Construction Unauthorized I have received your letter of March 20, 1959, requesting our opinion on whether or not Thelma Township in Burleigh County may Contribute one thousand dollars to Driscoll Township for the construction of a memorial building in the town of Driscoll. This memorial building would be beyond the confines of Thelma Township. You add further that it is your view that the township would have no authority to use its funds for a memorial bui

OPINION 59-286 March 24, 1959 (OPINION) TOWNSHIPS RE: Powers of Township - Tax Levy for Community Chest, Unauthorized I have received your letter of March 20, 1959, in which you state this question: "Is it legally possible for the township, with the consent of the electors given at its annual township meeting, to levy a tax for a township community chest to cover the normal charity drives conducted in the township each year?" You state that you have searched the statutes and that you have found no authority for levying a tax for a community chest, but some of the electors ins

OPINION 59-80 March 19, 1959 (OPINION) DEPUTIES RE: Authority, General - Authority - Acknowledgments This is in reply to your letter of March 17, 1959, in which you ask how far an elected official can delegate authority to his or her deputy. Section 1-01111 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 provides: "AUTHORITY OF DEPUTIES. Any duty imposed upon a ministerial officer, and any act permitted to be done by him, unless otherwise provided, may be performed by his lawful deputy." You also ask if a deputy is authorized to take acknowledgments, is he or she authorized to take

OPINION 59-273 March 17, 1959 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Refund Motor Fuel Tax - Unclaimed Refunds - Aviation Gasoline Fuel Tax This is in reply to your request for an opinion dated January 22, 1959. You state that the aeronautics commission has requested that you pay over to them all of the unclaimed refund taxes on aviation fuel. You ask for an opinion whether or not you are required to or may pay these unclaimed refunds as set out in section 57-5001 to the aeronautics commission. The laws pertaining to gasoline taxes and refunds have been numerous and have been modified many

OPINION 59-11 March 13, 1959 (OPINION) AGRICULTURE RE: Agricultural Fair Association - Levy for Building Repair - Election This is in reply to your letter of March 5, 1959 in regard to aid for the Burke County Fair. You call our attention to county levies over and above the one-fourth mill levy provided for in section 4-0227 generally and call our attention to the levy provided for in section 4-0232. Your question is stated specifically as: "Can the County Commissioners make a levy over and above the one-fourth mill provided for in section 4-0227 for the purpose of repairi

OPINION 59-72 March 12, 1959 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: Register of Deeds - Fees - Certified Copy This is in reply to your request for an interpretation of section 11-1805 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. The particular question is as follows: "If an instrument is presented for recording and a duplicate copy of the same instrument is presented for certifying as a certified copy of the recorded instrument, does section I and section J apply to the certified copy?" Subsection I of the above section is as follows: "For a certificate and seal, fifty c

OPINION 59-158 March 12, 1959 (OPINION) LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT RE: Referred Measure, Approved - Effective When I have received your letter of March 10, 1959, in which you request an opinion from this office in regard to the referral of the congressional redistricting bill which was passed by the recent legislative assembly. Your specific question is this: "If this measure is referred to the primary election of 1960, and is sustained by the voters, will the redistricting be effective in the general election of 1960?" Section 25 of Article II of the Constitution of North Dakota

OPINION 59-214 March 5, 1959 (OPINION) OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS RE: Abstractors - Authority - Place This is in reply to your letter of February thirteenth in which you request an opinion on the question whether a certified abstractor having a place of business in one county may abstract titles of land and etc. in other counties in which he has no place of business. As you pointed out in your letter this question apparently is controlled by sections 43-0109 and 43-0115 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. The abstracting profession generally is g

OPINION 59-201 March 3, 1959 (OPINION) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RE: Powers of Municipalities - Curfew Ordinances This is in reply to your letter of February 25, 1959, in which you state the following facts: The city council passed a curfew ordinance, which provides among other things that minors under eighteen shall not ride in cars after 10:30 p.m. unless certain conditions are met. It further provides that our police may arrest the violator without a warrant. It was later amended to provide that the parent of the minor who violates this ordinance shall also be guilty of viol

OPINION 59-133 February 23, 1959 (OPINION) INSANE, FEEBLEMINDED, ETC. RE: Care of Blind - Blind School Funds - Pupils Sent Out of State This is in reply to your inquiry as to whether moneys now received for the blind school would follow pupils if sent out of the state of North Dakota. The moneys to which reference is made are, we assume, the earnings of the funds created by the grant contained in section 17 of the Enabling Act of this state is terms as follows in so far as here applicable: That in lieu of the grant of land for purposes of internal improvement, made to new stat

OPINION 59-207 February 13, 1959 (OPINION) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RE: Revenue Bond Law - Liability of Municipality for Bonds This is in reply to your request for an opinion on the following question: If a municipality were to undertake the processing, refining, or milling of uranium bearing lignite in plants or mills owned by the city under the proposed amendment set out below, would the revenue raising bonds issued by the municipality to accomplish this constitute a general obligation of a municipality? The proposed amendment is as follows: 6. The processing, refining, or

OPINION 59-240 February 5, 1959 (OPINION) SOCIAL SECURITY RE: Federal State Agreement - Effective When This is in reply to a request for an opinion on the following facts: Your office prepared a number of agreement modifications in connection with Social Security coverage for teachers with effective dates from and between July 1, 1958, and October 1, 1958. These modifications required the approval and signature of the governor. The agreements were submitted to the governor for approval and signature. They were approved and signed by the governor on December 31, 1958, and we

OPINION 59-146 February 4, 1959 (OPINION) INSURANCE RE: Nonprofit Medical Service Corporations - Annual Statement - Filing Can Be Compelled This is in response to your letter of January 30, 1959 in which you asked for an opinion whether or not a penalty could or would be imposed upon a "nonprofit medical service corporation" for failure to file an annual statement. The nonprofit medical service corporation is governed by the provisions of chapter 26-27 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943. The annual statement referred to presumably is the one provided for in secti

OPINION 59-107 January 26, 1959 (OPINION) ELECTION RE: Returns - County Canvassing Board, Members - Clerk of District C We have your letter of January 23, 1959, in which you request the opinion of this office concerning section 16-1314 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. You state there is some difference of opinion in your county as to whether the amendment eliminates the clerk of the district court as a member of the county canvassing board. The composition of the county canvassing board is determined by section 16-1313 of the North Dakota Revised

OPINION 59-175 January 20, 1959 (OPINION) MOTOR VEHICLES RE: Registration - Used Car Lots; Location This is in reply to your letter of January 12, 1959, in which you state that an automobile salesman living in a small town some sixty miles from Bismarck sells cars for a Bismarck firm. On occasion he has several cars parked in his yard for sale to the public. You further state that your department has taken the position that a salesman may have in his possession one vehicle for demonstrating purposes but may not have an accumulation of vehicles. You then ask for an opinion