North Dakota Judicial System is well-structured body comprising of Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Courts and Municipal Courts. Equal and fair justice is delivered to each and every citizen through North Dakota Court
The ultimate responsibility for proper administration of North Dakota judicial system lies in the string hands of the Supreme Court. The administrative and supervisory responsibility of Supreme Courts rests on unified cooperation of state court administrators, presiding district judges, advisory committees, various commissions and boards.
Supreme Court
The highest judicial body among North Dakota Courts is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has 5 justices who are elected for a 10-year term in non-partisan election. The eligibility criterion for the justices is that they must be an US citizen and that of North Dakota. They must also be a licensed attorney. These justices select the Chief Justice along with judges of the district courts. The Chief Justice serves 5 year tenure and presides over Supreme Court conferences. He is the judicial representative at the official state functions and is the administrative head of North Dakota judicial system. Supreme Court can both judge and administer. In its judging capacity it acts as the appellate court for hearing cases and appeals from the lower courts like Court of Appeals and District Courts. Supreme Court looks after the effective administration of non-federal state courts, supervises judicial business and legal profession.
The state court administrator who is appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is responsible for preparation of judicial budget, provision for judicial education, technical assistance for all levels of courts, state-wide planning of judicial needs and administration of personnel system.
Court of Appeals works on the direction of the Supreme Court. It hears only those cases that are assigned by the Supreme Court. This North Dakotan Court comprises of 3 judges chosen from retired district court judges, retired justices of Supreme Court and attorneys. Sometimes temporary court of appeals judges are assigned to serve a term of 1 year. There have been instances when Supreme Court did not assign any cases to this court in a year.
District Court
These courts of North Dakota deal with general jurisdiction cases. Civil cases, misdemeanor cases, felonies are handled by these courts. They also act as a juvenile court in North Dakota and have exclusive juridical rights to deal with unruly and delinquent minor.
The state of North Dakota, which is divided into 7 judicial districts, has a presiding judge in each district, who supervises the proceedings of the court and its services. The presiding judge is elected to serve tenure of 6 years through non-partisan election. Court administrator or administrative assistant who work with several governmental agencies also serves these judicial districts.
Municipal Court
This judicial body has the responsibility to handle cases pertaining to violations of municipal ordinances. The municipal court judges, elected by the residents of North Dakota, serve a period of 4 years.
North Dakota Court supports ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), which is a cost-effective solution for resolving disputes. This system entails greater satisfaction for the justice seekers.
