North Dakota Attorney General Opinions

OPINION 58-219 August 4, 1958 (OPINION) OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS RE: Electricians - When License Not Required We have your letter of July 18, 1958, requesting an opinion of this office. The question is asked whether it is within the purview of powers granted the State Electrical Board to: 1. Act as an examining board for journeymen, linemen and supervisors. 2. Issue certification of the qualification of linemen. 3. Accept examination fees from applicants. 4. Accept fees for certificates of qualification. Chapter 43-09 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943

OPINION 58-45 August 1, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: County Budget - Availability of County Funds for Purchase of Ambulance This is in reply to your request for an opinion of this office in regard to availability of county funds for the purchase of an ambulance to be used in your community. You suggest three possibilities as follows: 1. As a regular county expenditure under normal operating proceeding, or 2. Under the county's contribution towards the purchase of an ambulance by the local fire department, or 3. The purchase of the ambulance or contribution of funds by t

OPINION 58-203 August 1, 1958 (OPINION) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RE: Powers of Municipalities - Ordinances Pertaining to Hawkers and Peddlers This opinion is issued to you in response to your request made in behalf of the City Council of Rugby, North Dakota, under the date of July 28, 1958. You ask three questions with reference to Ordinances numbered 49 and 50 of the said city of Rugby. Your first question was "Does ordinance No. 50 as set forth above apply to such sales persons or solicitation or does it only apply to peddlers and hawkers who may have merchandise with them for

OPINION 58-254 July 31, 1958 (OPINION) STATE GOVERNMENT RE: Merit System Council - Biennial Report This is in reply to your letter of July seventeenth in which you ask for an opinion on sections 4 and 5 of Chapter 332 of the 1957 Session Laws. This question deals with what is meant by a biennium report which is required to be submitted under both of the above mentioned sections. The term "biennium", unless further identified, means merely a period of two years and does not refer to a fiscal or calendar year. The term as used in section 4 of Chapter 332 of the 1957 Session Law

OPINION 58-90 July 29, 1958 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Powers and Duties of Special School District Officers - School Board Meetings - Charging of Mileage We have received your letter dated July 25, 1958, wherein you ask whether school officers in the newly reorganized Killdeer Special School District may charge mileage in connection with attendance at school board meetings. Section 15-2905 of the 1957 Supplement provides that: "Each member of the board of education shall receive as compensation three dollars for each meeting of the board actually attended by him, but no compensa

OPINION 58-97 July 22, 1958 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: State Board of Higher Education - Powers and Duties - Rules and Regulations, Power to Make We have received your request for an opinion dated June 17, 1958. Your problem involves the power of the Board of Higher Education to make regulations and enforce them on the campuses of our state institutions of higher learning. Your specific questions are as follows: "1. Does the Board of Higher Education have the power and authority to assess fines and/or penalties for violation of institutional regulations and does the Board where

OPINION 58-84 July 15, 1958 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: General Provisions - Schools Free and Accessible; School Ages - High School Student Over 21 We have received your letter dated July 10, 1958, wherein you state that a certain person over twenty-one years of age attended high school in a certain school district in this state last year, and you ask whether under our laws such person must pay tuition to such school district. Section 147 of Article VIII of our State Constitution provides in part as follows: "* * *the legislative assembly shall make provision for the establishmen

OPINION 58-139 July 14, 1958 (OPINION) INSANE, FEEBLEMINDED, ETC. RE: School For the Blind - Construction, Hiring of Architect This is in reply to your letter of July 7, 1958, requesting an opinion of this office in regard to the construction of facilities for the State School for the Blind at Grand Forks, North Dakota, pursuant to the initiated measure appropriating funds for the construction of such facilities. You ask whether your board should proceed after notification of the availability of funds under this appropriation to hire an architect in order that you may let contr

OPINION 58-204 July 8, 1958 (OPINION) MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RE: Public Libraries - Form of Petition For Pursuant to your request of June 25, 1958, please be advised that it is the opinion of the Attorney General that section 40-3801 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 provides that the county commissioners have the power to establish and maintain a public library service upon petition of not less than fifty one percent of the voters of such county participating in the last election There seems to be no legal requirement as to the form of the petitions and so it is o

OPINION 58-48 July 2, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: County Commissioners - Majority Necessary for Transaction of County Business This is in reply to your request for an opinion of this office in regard to two members of your Board of County Commissioners holding meetings and transacting business as the Board of County Commissioners. Your specific questions are stated as follows: 1. May a Board of county Commissioners delegate authority to take official action on general County matters to members of such board, not constituting a quorum, such authorization to be valid only whi

OPINION 58-50 June 10, 1958 (OPINION) CONTRACTORS RE: Public - License This is in reply to your letter of June 6, 1958, requesting an opinion of this office in regard to the necessity of a public contractor's license in particular described situations. In the first instance, an out-of-state firm will bid for the contract for the installation of bleachers in a public building within this state. The bleachers are manufactured in Wisconsin, but will be finally assembled and installed in the building at Fargo, North Dakota. In the second situation, a supplier will bid on furnitu

OPINION 58-148 June 4, 1958 (OPINION) RECORDS RE: Public - Public Access To I am in receipt of your letter of May 19, 1958, in which you request an interpretation of Chapter 305, 1957 Session Laws, which Act reads as follows: S 1.) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all records of public or governmental bodies, boards, bureaus, commissions or agencies of the state or any political subdivision of the state, or organizations or agencies supported in whole or in party by public funds, or expending public funds, shall be public records, open and accessible for insp

OPINION 58-23 June 3, 1958 (OPINION) CITIES RE: Establishment of New Ward This is in reply to your request for an opinion of this office in regard to the recent establishment of a new ward in your city. You inform us that on April 7, 1958, a petition, signed by a sufficient number of voters for the creation of a new ward in your city was filed with the city auditor of your city. The time and place for hearing the petition were designated and notice thereof was duly published in your official newspaper. The petition was approved, an ordinance was introduced, passed on first

OPINION 58-185 May 29, 1958 (OPINION) STATE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION RE: Authority to Purchase Land We have received your request for an opinion dated May 28, 1958. Your question is whether or not the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education has the power to purchase a quarter section of land in North Dakota for the purpose of carrying on research in botany and biology at the University of North Dakota. We cannot find any law which either expressly or by implication authorizes the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to purchase real property, and we therefore hold

OPINION 58-185 May 29, 1958 (OPINION) STATE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION RE: Authority to Grant Easement Your letter dated May 28, 1958, wherein you ask whether the State Board of Higher Education has power to grant an easement to the city of Dickinson to construct storm sewers across the campus of the State Teachers College at Dickinson, has been received. We know of no law which authorizes the Board of Higher Education to sell, convey, or purchase real property, or any interest therein, and since the easement is an interest in realty and a property right, we must hold that the b

OPINION 58-100 May 23, 1958 (OPINION) ELECTIONS RE: Combining Precincts This is in reply to your request for an opinion in regard to combining election precincts. You inform us that in the three adjoining precincts concerned there were thirteen votes cast in one precinct, twenty-five in another, and ten in the other, and that at the present time there are even less voters than at that time. You further inform us that it is difficult to even obtain boards to serve in two of the precincts, and that actually there is no place to hold elections in these two precincts. The voters

OPINION 58-221 May 12, 1958 (OPINION) TRANSIENT MERCHANTS RE: Applicability of Law to Resident Corporation This is in reply to your telephone call of May 10, 1958. An opinion was requested concerning the applicability of Chapter 51-04 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 which is entitled TRANSIENT MERCHANTS. The question is: Does Chapter 51j05 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 apply to a North Dakota resident corporation that travels through the various counties of the state and sells its wares? Subsection 1 of Section 51-0401 of the 1957 Supplemen

OPINION 58-203 May 12, 1958 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Fuels - Gasoline - Refunds This is in answer to your request of May 8, 1958, for an opinion concerning the question of whether gasoline tax is refundable where the gasoline is purchased by implement dealers for use in tractors for demonstration purposes. Section 57-5001 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 states in part as follows: After December 31, 1946, any person, firm or corporation who shall buy or use any motor vehicle fuel as defined in subparagraph 2 of section 57-4101, Revised Code of Nort

OPINION 58-102 May 9, 1958 (OPINION) ELECTIONS RE: Designation of Party on Ballot Pursuant to your telephone request of May 8, 1958, please be advised that it is the opinion of the attorney general that a Non-Partisan League candidate for election on the Democrat primary ballot may not have on the official ballot following his name a designation that he is a NPL affiliate. The statutes are clear on the duty of the auditor in making up the ballot. They make no provision for a particular designation other than that the Democrats appear on the Democrat ballot and Republicans ap

OPINION 58-74 April 29, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTY MEMORIALS RE: Funds - Addition to School This is in reply to your inquiry in regard to erection of memorial and in regard to taxation. Your first question is stated as "Can memorial levy funds to be used to build an addition to a new school or must they be used only on separate buildings?" The language of chapter 11-32 of the N.D.R.C. of 1943 as amended to date is not specific as to the form the "memorial" or "other suitable recognition" shall take. We find our supreme court decided in effect that a "community building" and a "co

OPINION 58-156 April 22, 1958 (OPINION) RESIDENCE RE: Poor Relief - Qualifications This is in reply to your letter of April 17, 1958, in regard to residence for poor relief purposes. You state the pertinent facts as follows: (1) Family "x" resided in Walsh County and received welfare assistance on March 1, 1956. They received no assistance from Walsh County after that date. (2) On April 1, 1957, the husband and head of household moved to Drayton, Pembina County, and commenced working there. The wife and children followed him to Drayton a few days after he went to w

OPINION 58-82 April 18, 1958 (OPINION) COURTS RE: County - Furnishing or Probate Forms Mandatory Pursuant to your letter request of April 10, 1958, please be advised that it is the opinion of the attorney general's office that it is mandatory for the county judge to furnish blank probate forms, at the expense of the county, for use in estate proceedings in his court if, in his discretion, he believes such forms to be necessary for the making of proper records in his office or for efficiently transacting the business of his office. LESLIE R. BURGUM Attorney General

OPINION 58-186 April 18, 1958 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Abatement - Application by Lessee This is in reply to your letter of March 25, 1958, requesting an opinion on the question of whether our statutes authorize a lessee to apply for and be granted an abatement of a certain percentage of a general real estate tax levied against the real estate owned by the lessor but which taxes the lessee is obligated under the lease to pay for the lessor-owner. The property in question consists of two pieces of business property in Fargo, which are used for motion picture theaters by the Amer

OPINION 58-70 April 10, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RE: Authority to Sell Merchandise at Courthouse This is an answer to your letter of April 7, 1958, requesting the opinion of this office on several questions relating to the authority of the county commissioners and the county auditor to purchase and sell atlases. Your questions appear as follows: 1. Would it be legal for the commissioners of the county to purchase such atlases and resell them through the office of the county auditor at a profit to the county? 2. Would it be permissible for the county to buy the a

OPINION 58-69 April 8, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RE: Authority to Provide Electricity for Courthouse We have your letter of April 1, 1958, in which you requested an opinion on whether the county may legally build and operate its own transmission lines to the city limits for the purpose of purchasing electricity from a rural electric cooperative. We assume that the electricity would be purchased for the use of the county, that the county's electricity needs are at present fulfilled by the public utility which has the franchise for the city, and that the rural electri

OPINION 58-136 April 2, 1958 (OPINION) NURSING RE: Scholarships - Fulfilling Requirements This is an answer to your request of March 27, 1958, relative to the question of whether a nurse receiving a scholarship under chapter 43-12 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 may fulfill her condition of scholarship as provided in sections 43-1228 and 43-1231 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 by nursing in a veterans' hospital in North Dakota for the period of one year. Subsection 6 of section 43-1228 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 states: "* * *I

OPINION 58-213 April 1, 1958 (OPINION) TOWNSHIPS RE: Authority to Pay for Electrical Service in Unincorporated Villag This is an answer to your request of March 19, 1958, relative to whether a board of township supervisors has authority to pay for the cost of electricity used by an unincorporated village in lighting the street lights. It is understood that payments made would be taken out of the township funds. It is also asked whether it would be permissible to pay for the cost of this electricity from contributions made by residents of the unincorporated village. It is ge

OPINION 58-110 April 1, 1958 (OPINION) HIGHWAY PATROL RE: Duties - Enforcement of City Ordinances We have your request for an opinion dated March 28, 1958. In it you state that you have had requests from municipalities to charge traffic offenders under city ordinance rather than state law in cases where highway patrolmen are acting within city limits and observe traffic violations therein. The powers of the Highway Patrol are prescribed by section 39-0309 of the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943. Subsection 1 provides that a patrolman has the power of a

OPINION 58-9 March 31, 1958 (OPINION) ADOPTION RE: Residence Requirements We have your letter of March 26, 1958, and we have noted its request for an opinion of whether a man who moved into North Dakota from Wisconsin in October of 1957, and who subsequently in December of 1957, brought his family and a child to be adopted to live with him in North Dakota, is now qualified under North Dakota law as a resident for the purpose of petitioning the court for adoption of the child. We assume from your letter that the individual referred to is married and that his wife has been livi

OPINION 58-189 March 24, 1958 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Abatement - County Commissioners - Authority On March 15, 1957, it was requested of this office that an opinion be issued on the following question: Does section 57-2020 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 authorize a board of county commissioners to abate, adjust, or refund property taxes on grounds other than the grounds for abatement and refunds specified in sections 57-2303, 57-2304, 57-2307, or 57-2904 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943? The opinion requested has not been issued as of this date because of a c

OPINION 58-149 March 21, 1958 (OPINION) RECORDS RE: Tax Department - Disclosure of Files Pursuant to your letter request of March 21, 1958, please be advised that it is the opinion of the Attorney General that section 57-3857 of the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 does not prohibit disclosure by the Tax Commissioner of the fact that his office has no record of a particular person having filed an income tax return. The above referred to section provides that the commissioner "shall not divulge nor make known, in any manner, the amount of income, or any particulars set forth or

OPINION 58-46 March 10, 1958 (OPINION) COMPETITIVE BIDS RE: Preference - Residence We have received your request for an opinion dated March 6, 1958. You state your board advertised for bids on furniture and equipment for a new building at the Mayville Teachers College. The low bidder was Remington-Rand of Minneapolis, Minnesota, but they were not two percent lower than the next lowest North Dakota bidder. This bid and quotations came from the Minneapolis office. Your question is, can Remington-Rand, under the circumstances, be considered a North Dakota bidder? Section 44-0

OPINION 58-113 March 10, 1958 (OPINION) INSTITUTIONS RE: Residence - Reciprocal Agreement We have received your letter of March 8, 1958, with reference to residence. The facts are as follows: Mr. and Mrs. Paul White of Mountrail County, North Dakota, in July or August of 1957 moved to the State of Washington. On January 10, 1958, Mrs. White was committed to the Western State Hospital in Olympia, Washington, as a nonresident person. The above-mentioned hospital is a state owned and operated institution for the mentally ill. Mr. A.L. Whitmore, County Judge of Mountrail C

OPINION 58-51 March 7, 1958 (OPINION) COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS RE: Distribution of Net Proceeds - Who Votes Your letter of March 4, 1958, has been received in this office. In your letter you request our opinion of the interpretation of subsection 2(a) of section 10-1533 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C of 1943. This subsection reads as follows: "The remainder of the total proceeds are net proceeds and shall be distributed and paid as follows: a. An amount not to exceed five percent thereof may be set aside as an educational fund to be used in teaching or promoting c

OPINION 58-64 February 27, 1958 (OPINION) COUNTIES RE: Funds - Use for Civil Defense We have received your request of February 6, 1958, for an opinion of the availability of county funds for civil defense purposes. Pursuant thereto, we submit the following conclusions: Chapter 37-17 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 for the purpose of implementing a civil defense program establishes a state civil defense council which is empowered under section 37-1703, subsection 3, subdivision c "To require and direct the cooperation and assistance of the state and local governme

OPINION 58-109 February 27, 1958 (OPINION) HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER RE: Revocation of Driver's License is Not a Penalty I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of February 19, 1958, requesting an opinion construing certain provisions of the accident reporting law. Chapter 253 of the 1955 Session Laws has been codified into the 1957 Supplement to the North Dakota Revised Code of 1943 and is found in section 39-0804 through section 39-0817. In enacting Chapter 253 of the 1955 Session Laws, the Legislature specifically provided that this act shall be construed as being a part o

OPINION 58-132 February 13, 1958 (OPINION) MOTOR VEHICLES RE: Driver's License Required of Servicemen In regard to your request for an opinion of January 31, 1958, as to whether or not a serviceman stationed in the United States Military Service in North Dakota is obligated to acquire a North Dakota driver's license while operating a private vehicle, it is the opinion of this office that such serviceman must acquire a driver's license as would any other non-resident in similar circumstances. LESLIE R. BURGUM Attorney General

OPINION 58-129 February 11, 1958 (OPINION) LICENSE FEES RE: Aircraft We have received your letter of February 3, 1958, in which you requested an opinion of whether the city of Wimbledon, North Dakota, should make its claim for license fees to the County of Stutsman in which the real property constituting its airport is located, or to the County of Barnes in which the city is located. Such an opinion involves a construction of section 2-0511 of the 1957 Supplement to the N.D.R.C. of 1943 which in part reads: "* * *The above registration fee shall be in lieu of personal proper

OPINION 58-190 February 10, 1958 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Assessment of Equipment - Location This is in reply to your letter of January 31, 1958, asking where the road building equipment of a contractor should be assessed under the facts summarized from your letter as follows: The party in question is a road building contractor who owns a very large assortment of road machinery which he moves to wherever he has obtained a contract. It appears that in late winter or early spring of 1957 this contractor, whose permanent residence and home is in Lakota in Nelson County, moved his

OPINION 58-94 February 7, 1958 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Student Loans - Yearly Limitation We have received your letter dated February 5, 1958, with reference to the above statute. A certain applicant for a student loan has made application for more than $500.00 in one calendar year on the theory that when the law refers to one year it means one school year and thus a student attending summer school as well as the regular nine-month school term may be entitled to a loan in excess of $500.00 in any one calendar year. Section 2 of Chapter 150 of the 1957 Session Laws reads as foll

OPINION 58-177 February 7, 1958 (OPINION) SCHOOL DISTRICTS RE: Transportation of Students - Schedule of Fees We have received your letter dated February 3, 1958, wherein you ask for our interpretation of section 15-5315 as amended by Chapter 146 of the 1957 Session Laws. Your question is whether a reorganized school district can legally pay an amount greater than that provided for in section 15-3404, or is such district bound by the schedule set forth in section 15-3404 of the 1957 Supplement. That part of the law which gives rise to your question is the following language use

OPINION 58-82 February 4, 1958 (OPINION) COURTS RE: Mileage for Jury This is in reply to your letter of January 30, 1958, requesting an opinion relative to the question of whether the county is obligated or justified in paying mileage twice for the same term of court when the court was recessed for a period of five days and the entire jury panel was excused during recess. Section 4 of chapter 200 of the 1955 S.L. states that the amount for mileage that a juror shall receive to be: "4. Traveling expenses, payable by the county, of seven and one-half cents per mile for each mile

OPINION 58-48 January 27, 1958 (OPINION) CONTRACTORS RE: Competitive Bidding - Preference We have received your letter and enclosures of January twenty-one in which you requested an opinion of the Attorney General on the residence of a domestic corporation for purposes of the statute giving preference to resident contractors in the construction of public buildings in a case where the domestic corporation is owned by a foreign corporation and a majority of the directors are residents of a foreign state. The statute in question is section 48-0206 of the 1953 Supplement to the N.

OPINION 58-130 January 27, 1958 (OPINION) LICENSES RE: Real Estate Salesman - Change of Residence We have received your letter of January 21, 1958, in which you requested an opinion of the license fees to be paid in the following described situations which I quote: "1. A real estate salesman, employed by a corporation, pays his fee of twenty dollars and receives his license as a real estate salesman. Later he becomes an actively engaged officer of the corporation, by which he was employed; now he requests an individual license as an officer of the corporation and the fee is

OPINION 58-192 January 24, 1958 (OPINION) TAXATION RE: Authority of Commissioner to Enter Reciprocal Agreement This is in reference to your letter of January 18, 1958, in which you requested an opinion on the question of whether a temporary reciprocal agreement between the tax commissioner of North Dakota and Minnesota is authorized under the North Dakota Income Tax Law. I find it appropriate to quote in full your letter which reads as follows: Chapter 360, S.L. 1957, enacted by the last Legislative Assembly, extensively amended section 57-3804 of our income tax law, which sec

OPINION 58-91 January 16, 1958 (OPINION) EDUCATION RE: Scholarships - Psychiatric - Personnel We have received your letter dated January 7, 1958, wherein you ask whether in our opinion House Bill 535, now appearing as Chapter 144 of the Laws of 1957, is applicable to students of clinical psychology. Chapter 144 of the Laws of 1957 reads as follows: Training of psychiatric personnel: Scholarships.) The North Dakota state medical center, under the direction of the state board of higher education, is hereby authorized and directed to provide or encourage means for providing f

OPINION 58-159 January 10, 1958 (OPINION) RURAL FIRE PROTECTION RE: Boundary Change - Voters' Requirements This is in reply to your request of January 6, 1958, for an opinion from this office. As we understand it a question has arisen regarding Chapter 165 of the 1957 Session Laws. The question is asked in reference to the section of this act which specifies the procedure in changing the boundaries of the rural fire protection district. Section 11 (a) of Chapter 165 of the 1957 Session Laws states: BOUNDARIES OF RURAL PROTECTION DISTRICT.) The boundaries of any rural fir