Title 11, Counties

The lawful use or occupation of land or premises existing at the time of the adoption of a resolution hereunder may be continued, although such use or occupation does not conform to the provisions thereof, but if such nonconforming use or occupancy is discontinued for a period of…

The board of county commissioners, may, by resolutions, as herein provided, prescribe such reasonable regulations, not contrary to law, as it deems desirable or necessary to regulate and control nonconforming uses and occupancies.

The board of county commissioners shall provide for the enforcement of this chapter and of resolutions and regulations made thereunder and may impose enforcement duties on any officer, department, agency, or employee of the county.

If any building or structure is erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted, or maintained, or if any building, structure, or land is used in violation of this chapter, the proper county authorities or any affected citizen or property owner, in addition to o…

1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or zoning ordinance, a nonconforming structure devoted to residential use and located in a residential zoning district may be repaired, replaced, improved, maintained, restored, or rebuilt in its entirety even though the structure is …

1. The board of county commissioners may authorize and provide for the issuance of permits as a prerequisite to construction, erection, reconstruction, alteration, repair, or enlargement of any building or structure otherwise subject to this chapter. 2. If a board of county commi…

If the area to be regulated and restricted is situated in two or more counties, a joint planning commission may be established. Membership of such a joint planning commission shall consist of five members from each county planning commission to be appointed by the chairman of the…

A violation of any provision of this chapter or the regulations and restrictions made thereunder shall constitute the maintenance of a public nuisance and shall be a class B misdemeanor.

Any zoning regulation that pertains to an animal feeding operation, as defined in section 11-33-02.1, is not effective until filed with the department of environmental quality for inclusion in the central repository established under section 23.1-01-10.

This chapter does not include any power relating to the role of the board of county commissioners in the establishment, repair, or maintenance of highways or roads.

The governing boards of counties, cities, and organized townships may cooperate to form, organize, and administer a regional planning and zoning commission for the region defined as may be agreed upon by the governing bodies of such political subdivisions. The regional commission…

Until the organization of either a regional planning and zoning commission as provided in section 11-35-01 or township zoning board or county zoning commission pursuant to sections 58-03-11 through 58-03-15 and chapter 11-33, respectively, any city that determines to use zoning r…

1. Upon the filing with the county auditor at least sixty-four days before the date of a general election of a petition to authorize or discontinue a tax levy for extension work, containing the names of twenty percent of the qualified electors of the county as determined by the v…

The petitions provided for in section 11-38-01 must be in substantially the following form: PETITION REGARDING LEVY FOR EXTENSION WORK We, the undersigned, qualified electors of __________ County, North Dakota, petition the board of county commissioners that it [levy or discontin…

The question to be voted upon as provided in section 11-38-01 must be submitted on a separate ballot and must be worded as follows: 1. For a petition to authorize a levy: For extension work ________________________☐ Against extension work _____________________☐ 2. For a petition …

When a majority of the votes are cast to authorize a tax levy for extension work, by the following July first the North Dakota state university extension service shall conduct interviews and select a candidate for extension agent. If a vacancy occurs in the extension agent positi…

If a majority of the votes cast at an election to discontinue authority for a tax levy under section 11-38-01 are in favor of discontinuing authority for the levy for extension work, the tax levy and the services of the extension agent must be discontinued on the thirty-first day…

1. When the board of county commissioners is authorized to make a levy for the employment of an extension agent, the board shall provide an annual budget that stipulates the salary of the agent, field and office expenses, and allowance for staff. 2. The budget must be revised ann…

The extension agent shall submit monthly an accurate itemized account of all expenditures incurred by the agent in the regular conduct of duties to the North Dakota state university extension service for examination and audit. When charges are made by an extension agent for money…

The North Dakota state university extension service shall actively direct and supervise the work of the extension agent. The extension agent regularly shall request feedback from the board of county commissioners on county programs, based on local and state needs considerations. …

An extension agent shall file a statement of the agent's work with the board of county commissioners either monthly or within a mutually agreed upon time frame not to exceed one year.

If the North Dakota state university extension service or the board of county commissioners becomes dissatisfied with the performance of an extension agent or the level of funding support required, the dissatisfied entity shall arrange a joint meeting at which detailed informatio…

The state board of agricultural research and education and the president of North Dakota state university shall control and administer the North Dakota state university extension service subject to the supervision of the state board of higher education. Funds appropriated to the …

A county fair association must be organized under the nonprofit corporation laws of this state. In addition to the powers and duties of nonprofit corporations under the laws of this state, a county fair association has the powers and duties specified in this chapter.

1. A fair association may be organized in any county. The officers and directors must be residents of the county or, if the association is to conduct a multicounty fair, residents of one of the participating counties. The association may make written application to the board of c…

If the board of county commissioners has voted and ordered county general fund funding for a fair association and a petition is addressed to the board and filed with the county auditor, asking the discontinuance of the funding and containing the signatures of qualified electors o…

Any county fair association that fails to hold a county fair for ten consecutive years forfeits its official authorization. After a forfeiture, another fair association may organize within a county and apply, or the forfeiting organization may reapply, to the board of county comm…

The board of county commissioners may sell property used for county fair purposes and held in the name of the county upon terms and conditions set by the board. The proceeds of such sale must be placed in the county general fund. If the county fair association fails to hold a fai…

The board of county commissioners shall refuse to provide funding for a county fair association that failed to hold a fair within the county in any year for which it has received funding from the county. In such a case, the board of county commissioners shall inquire into the dis…

Fair associations may make rules, regulations, and provisions necessary and proper for the government, management, and control of the premises used by them for the holding of fairs and expositions and for the regulation of the use of the premises.

The individual members of the board of directors of any fair association are immune from civil liability for any act or omission relating to service as a director for the negligence of any person, firm, corporation, or limited liability company staging any show, race, or other am…

The officers and directors of any fair association shall require the treasurer of the association to give a sufficient bond to those officers and directors, conditioned for the faithful keeping of that money as may come into the treasurer's hands as the treasurer. The treasurer m…

The state is not liable for any of the debts or liabilities of a fair association except to the extent appropriations are made for that purpose by the legislative assembly.

1. Any two or more counties may create a county consolidation committee: a. By entering into a joint powers agreement or by joint resolution pursuant to separate majority votes of the participating boards of county commissioners; or b. By direct initiative through petitions signe…

The committee shall select its own chairman and shall appoint one of its members as secretary. A majority of the committee shall constitute a quorum and a majority of such quorum may act upon all matters properly before the committee.

1. The committee, in studying and preparing a plan to consolidate the counties or change county lines, shall consider and include in the plan as appropriate: a. The fiscal impact of the proposed county consolidation or change in county lines and the economic viability of the prop…

If the committee approves a consolidation plan, it must submit a report and a map showing the boundaries of the proposed county consolidation or change in county lines to the board of county commissioners of each affected county. The report may also be made available to all inter…

If the committee shall recommend a new form of county government among the optional plans provided by law, they shall submit a report of their findings to the board of county commissioners. If the plan submitted by the committee is the consolidated office form of government, the …

Except as otherwise provided by the implementing joint powers agreement, joint resolutions, or petitions, each member of the committee is entitled to receive from the county the actual and necessary expenses incurred by that member in attending scheduled meetings and in performan…

The board of county commissioners may on its own motion cause a home rule charter to be drafted and submitted for adoption to the electors of the county in the manner provided in this chapter. A home rule proposal may be initiated in a petition filed with the board of county comm…

Within sixty days after proceedings have been initiated for a home rule charter, the board of county commissioners shall appoint a charter commission, comprised of at least five members, to draft the charter, unless a petition proposing a charter pursuant to section 11-09.1-01 pr…

At least sixty days, but no more than two years, after submission of the charter to the board of county commissioners, the proposed charter must be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the county at a primary or general election. If the proposed charter has been submi…

If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the charter at the election vote in favor of the home rule charter, it is ratified and becomes the organic law of the county on the first day of January or July next following the election, and extends to all its county matters, u…

1. Two or more counties may draft and submit for adoption a multicounty home rule charter to the electors of each county pursuant to this section. The other provisions of this chapter apply to a multicounty home rule charter, except as otherwise provided by this section. 2. The p…

After the filing with the secretary of state of a charter approved in reasonable conformity with this chapter, the county and its citizens may, if included in the charter and implemented through ordinances: 1. Acquire, hold, operate, and dispose of property within or without the …

Notwithstanding the provisions of chapters 54-40 and 54-40.3 or any other provision of law, revenue from sales, use, or other excise taxes levied under this chapter may not be transferred to or for the primary benefit of a school district except for payment of bonded indebtedness…