Title 28, Judicial Procedure, Civil

When an infant is plaintiff, a guardian ad litem may be appointed upon the application of the infant if the infant is at least fourteen years of age. If the infant is under that age, the application may be made by the infant's guardian or conservator, if the infant has one, or by…

When an infant is defendant and resides in this state, a guardian ad litem may be appointed upon the application of the infant if the infant is at least fourteen years of age and applies within twenty days after the service of the summons. If the infant is under the age of fourte…

In actions for the partition of real property or for the foreclosure of a mortgage or other lien, and in all actions affecting the title to real property, and in all other actions wherein an infant is a proper or necessary party and such infant resides out of this state, a guardi…

When the defendant, at the time the action is commenced, is a person of unsound mind, and no guardian or conservator has been appointed, the court shall appoint a guardian for the defendant for the purposes of the action. If during the pendency of an action either party becomes o…

No guardian appointed for an infant or for a person of unsound mind under the provisions of this chapter may be permitted to receive any money or other property of the ward except costs and expenses allowed to the guardian by the court, or recovered by the ward in the action, unt…

No person appointed a guardian for the purpose of defending an action brought against an infant or person of unsound mind is liable for the costs of such action, unless specially charged by order of the court resulting from a personal misfeasance by the guardian.

An action for any one of the following causes must be brought in the county in which the subject matter of the action, or some part thereof, is situated, subject to the power of the court to change the place of trial upon agreement of counsel or in other cases provided by statute…

An action for any of the following causes must be tried in the county in which the subject of the action, or some part of the subject, is situated, subject to the power of the court to change the place of trial in the cases provided by sections 28-04-09 and 28-04-10: 1. For the r…

An action for any one of the following causes must be tried in the county where the cause or some part thereof arose, subject to the power of the court to change the place of trial as provided in sections 28-04-09 and 28-04-10: 1. For the recovery of a penalty or forfeiture impos…

An action against the owner or driver of any motor vehicle arising out of and by reason of the negligent driving, operation, management, or control of such motor vehicle may be brought either in the county where such action arose, in the county of the residence of the defendant, …

An action against a domestic corporation or limited liability company must be brought in the county designated in the plaintiff's complaint if such corporation or limited liability company transacts business in that county.

In all other cases, except as provided in section 28-04-03.1, and subject to the power of the court to change the place of trial as provided by sections 28-04-09 and 28-04-10, the action must be brought in the county in which the defendant or one of the defendants resides at the …

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if the county seats of adjoining counties are less than ten miles [16.10 kilometers] apart and are located in the same judicial district, the district court may hold any trial or hearing in either county. In the case of a jury …

The court may change the place of trial in the following cases: 1. When the county designated for that purpose in the complaint is not the proper county. 2. When there is reason to believe that an impartial trial cannot be had therein. 3. When the convenience of witnesses and the…

When the place of trial is changed, all other proceedings must be had in the county to which the place of trial is changed, unless otherwise provided by the consent of the parties in writing duly filed, and the papers must be filed or transferred accordingly.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any pretrial hearing or proceeding, except a hearing for a motion to suppress evidence, the court may change the place of the hearing or proceeding from the location in which the matter was originally to be heard.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any civil trial the court may change the place of the trial from the location in which the matter was originally to be heard. If any party files an objection to the change of trial no later than ten days after the date of notice of a…

In a civil or criminal action in a court affecting the title to real property, the plaintiff, at the time of filing the complaint or criminal information or indictment or at any time afterwards, or the defendant, when the defendant sets up in the defendant's answer an affirmative…

On and after January 1, 1958, no lis pendens now of record or hereafter filed is notice, either actual or constructive, of the pendency of any action or of any of the matters referred to in the court files and records pertaining to the action noticed by such lis pendens, after su…

The court in which the action was commenced, at any time, on application of any person aggrieved and on good cause shown and on such notice as directed or approved by the court, may order the notice authorized by section 28-05-07 to be canceled of record in whole or in part by th…

A notice of the pendency of an action in a district court is not required if the action is for the foreclosure of a mortgage.

A civil action in a district court is deemed to be pending from the time of its commencement until its final determination upon appeal or until the time for appeal has passed, unless the judgment is sooner satisfied.

At the opening of the court the clerk shall prepare separate ballots containing the names of the persons returned as jurors, which must be folded as nearly alike as possible so that the names cannot be seen, and shall deposit them in the trial jury box.

Either party to an action may challenge the array of jurors for any legal cause, which must be done by motion setting forth particularly the causes of challenge, and the party opposing the challenge may join issues of law or fact on such motion, and the issues so formed must be t…

When the action is called for trial by jury, the clerk shall draw from the trial jury box of the court the ballots containing the names of the jurors summoned, until the jury is completed or the ballots are exhausted.

In all civil actions when a jury is impaneled, a jury must consist of six qualified jurors unless any party makes a timely written demand for a jury of nine.

Challenges for cause may be taken on one or more of the following grounds: 1. A want of any of the qualifications prescribed by law to render a person competent as a juror; 2. Consanguinity or affinity within the fourth degree to either party; 3. Standing in the relation of guard…

Challenges for cause must be tried by the court. The juror challenged and any other person may be examined as a witness on the trial of the challenge.

When the jurors have been sworn, the trial must proceed in the following order, unless the judge for special reasons directs otherwise: 1. The plaintiff, after stating the issue and the plaintiff's case, shall produce the evidence on the plaintiff's part; 2. The defendant then ma…

When in the opinion of the court it is proper for the jurors to have a view of the property which is the subject of litigation, or of the place in which any material fact occurred, it may order them to be conducted in a body under the charge of an officer to the place, which must…

The jurors sworn to try a civil action may be kept in charge of proper officers during each recess of the court pending the trial. Whether the jurors are permitted to separate or are kept in charge of an officer, they must be admonished by the court that it is their duty not to c…

Upon retiring for deliberation, the jurors may take with them all papers which have been received as evidence in the cause, except depositions or copies of such papers as ought not in the opinion of the court to be taken from the person having them in possession, and they also ma…

When the case finally is submitted to the jurors, they may decide in court or retire for deliberation. If they retire, they must be kept together in some convenient place under charge of an officer, until they agree upon a verdict, are temporarily dismissed by the court, or are p…

After the jurors have retired for deliberation, if there is a disagreement between them as to any part of the testimony, or if they desire to be informed of any point of law arising in the case, they may require the officer to conduct them into court. Upon their being brought int…

If after the impaneling of a jury and before a verdict, a juror becomes sick so as to be unable to perform the juror's duty, the court may order the juror to be discharged. In that case the trial may proceed by agreement of the parties with the remaining jurors, or an alternate j…

In all cases when the jurors are discharged or prevented from giving a verdict by reason of accident or other cause during the progress of the trial or after the cause is submitted to them, the action may be tried again immediately or at a future time as the court may direct.

While the jury is absent, the court may adjourn from time to time in respect to other business, but it nevertheless is open for every purpose connected with the cause submitted to the jury, until a verdict is rendered or the jurors are discharged. The court may direct the jurors …

When the jurors have agreed upon a verdict, the members thereof must be conducted into court, their names called by the clerk, and the verdict rendered by the foreman. The verdict must be in writing signed by the foreman and must be read by the clerk to the jurors and inquiry mad…

When the verdict is announced, if it is informal or insufficient in not covering the issue submitted, it may be corrected by the jury under the advice of the court, or the jurors again may be sent out.

Upon receiving a verdict, either general or special, an entry must be made by the clerk in the minutes of the court, specifying the time of trial, the names of the jurors and witnesses, and setting out the verdict at length, and when a special verdict is found, either the judgmen…

If judgment has been rendered against a person who thereafter dies: 1. The judgment may be enforced by execution against any real property of the decedent upon which it had become a lien prior to the decedent's death, but no such execution may issue until after the expiration of …

In an action to recover the possession of personal property, the judgment for the plaintiff may be for the possession, or for the recovery of possession, or for the value thereof in case a delivery cannot be had and for damages for the taking and detention thereof. If the propert…

Every judgment that contains a direction for the sale of specific real property also may direct the delivery of the possession of the property to the purchaser, and the officer receiving the execution or order of sale may enforce the judgment by putting the purchaser in possessio…

The judgment must specify clearly the relief granted or other determination of the action. An entry of the judgment must be made by the clerk in the register of civil actions. The entry of any judgment affecting the title or possession of real property, except judgments required …

Unless the party or the party's attorney furnishes a judgment roll, the clerk, immediately after entering the judgment, shall attach together and file the following papers, which constitute the judgment roll unless otherwise directed by rule of the supreme court: 1. In cases when…

1. On filing a judgment roll upon a judgment that directs the payment of money, the clerk of the district court in which the judgment was rendered shall docket the judgment in a separate record to be known as the "judgment docket". The judgment may be docketed in any other county…

Whenever an appeal from any judgment is pending and the undertaking requisite to stay execution on such judgment has been given and the appeal perfected as provided in this title, the court in which such judgment was recovered, on motion after notice to the person owning the judg…

No judgment for the recovery of money against any person may be docketed or entered until the judgment creditor, or the judgment creditor's agent or attorney, has filed with the clerk of the district court an affidavit stating the full name, occupation, place of residence, and po…

Unless otherwise directed by rules of the supreme court, the clerk shall docket the judgment by entering alphabetically in the judgment docket the names of the judgment debtors, the names of the parties in whose favor the judgment was rendered, the sum recovered or directed to be…

Upon the filing of a transcript of judgment in the office of any clerk of a district court, the clerk with whom such transcript is filed forthwith shall notify by mail the clerk issuing the same of the time when such judgment was docketed in the county in which such transcript is…