AN ACT to provide an appropriation for defraying the expenses of the attorney general; to amend and reenact sections 31-01-16, 54-12-11, 54-12-30, and 54-27-25 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to compensation and mileage and travel expenses for witnesses, the salary of the attorney general, twenty-four seven sobriety program fees, and the tobacco settlement trust fund; to provide for a report; to provide for a transfer; and to provide an exemption.
HB 1003 is the North Dakota attorney general appropriation bill for the 2025-27 biennium. It funds the Attorney General’s office at $114.7 million total funds, including $62.9 million from the general fund, and increases staffing to 270 FTEs. The bill allocates money across core operations and several targeted programs, including prosecution witness fees, human trafficking victim grants, forensic nurse examiner grants, criminal justice information sharing, law enforcement support, and a statewide litigation funding pool. It also includes one-time funding for equipment, lab supplies, undercover vehicles, radios, intoxilyzers, jail management system replacement, and victim notification system replacement.
In addition to appropriations, the bill amends several statutes. It raises the per-county biennial cap on prosecution witness fee reimbursements from $25,000 to $30,000, updates the attorney general’s salary, and revises the 24/7 sobriety program fee provisions to clarify collection and use of fees. It also changes the tobacco settlement trust fund language to reflect transfers to the community health trust fund and enforcement-related uses. The bill authorizes the attorney general to impose reasonable fees for criminal history record checks tied to legislation enacted by the 69th Assembly, permits contingent-fee legal services for ongoing multistate technology litigation, and allows certain unexpended appropriations and refund-fund balances to carry forward.
The bill’s impact on state law is primarily fiscal and administrative, but it also affects how several justice-related programs are funded and managed. It directs transfers from the community health trust fund and the strategic investment and improvements fund, creates reporting requirements for grant recipients, and limits use of the statewide litigation funding pool so it cannot be used to pay judgments under state law. It also earmarks resources for cybercrime work in northeastern North Dakota, human trafficking services, sexual assault examiner programs, and criminal justice technology and equipment upgrades, which will affect the Attorney General’s office, local agencies, and grant recipients.
Overall sentiment appears strongly supportive. The bill passed both chambers with large margins, suggesting broad agreement on funding the Attorney General’s office and associated public safety and victim-services programs. The structure of the bill also reflects routine appropriations priorities, with a mix of operational funding, one-time capital purchases, and targeted grants that are generally consistent with bipartisan public safety and victim assistance goals.
The main points of contention are likely to have centered on the size and scope of the appropriation, the use of special funds, and the expansion of litigation-related funding and authority. The bill’s statewide litigation funding pool, contingent-fee authority for multistate technology litigation, and transfers from settlement-related funds could raise concerns about legal spending discretion and fund usage. The increase in witness reimbursement caps and the dedicated cybercrime staffing for a specific region may also have drawn scrutiny over cost, targeting, and precedent, though the recorded votes indicate limited opposition overall.
HB 1003 increases and reallocates funding for the Attorney General’s office, raises the prosecution witness reimbursement cap, updates the attorney general’s salary, revises 24/7 sobriety program fee administration, and modifies tobacco settlement fund language. It also authorizes new fees for criminal history record checks, permits contingent-fee arrangements for certain litigation, and carries forward selected unspent appropriations. The bill affects the Attorney General’s office, county governments, criminal justice agencies, grant recipients, and programs tied to victim services, cybercrime, and litigation support.
The bill appears to have had broadly favorable support. It passed the House 74-12 and the Senate 45-2, indicating strong bipartisan approval of the Attorney General appropriation and related policy changes. The discussion context provided does not include committee testimony, but the vote totals suggest the bill was viewed as a standard and largely noncontroversial appropriations measure with support for public safety, victim services, and justice-system operations.
Likely areas of disagreement include the overall size of the appropriation, the use of special funds and settlement-related transfers, and the creation of a statewide litigation funding pool with authority for the attorney general to allocate funds to state agencies. Some lawmakers may also have questioned the contingent-fee litigation authority, the regional dedication of cybercrime resources, and the increase in witness fee reimbursement caps. However, the strong final votes suggest these issues did not generate major sustained opposition.