Voters Created an Ethics Commission in North Dakota. Then the Legislature Limited its Power

(Photo illustration by ProPublica. Photos by Kyle Martin for the North Dakota Monitor, Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(Jacob Orledge – North Dakota Monitor) – Fed-up North Dakotans, led by a group of women calling themselves the BadAss Grandmas, voted to amend the constitution and establish a state Ethics Commission six years ago. Their goal was to investigate and stop unethical conduct by public officials.

But the watchdog agency has achieved less than the advocates had hoped, undermined in large part by the Legislature the commission is charged with overseeing, an investigation by the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica has found.

The commission has not substantiated any of the 81 complaints it has received. It has dismissed 47, most because it lacked the authority to investigate them. Thirty complaints are pending, some for more than a year. Numerous tips don’t get investigated because the agency can’t proceed without a formal complaint, and complainants have said they fear retaliation if they file one, the commission’s executive director said.

“I certainly was hoping for something more rapid,” said Carol Sawicki, one of the North Dakota residents who sponsored the ballot initiative that created the commission. Creating an ethical culture in government is “going to take time,” said Sawicki, who is also treasurer of the state’s League of Women Voters branch. “Much more time than I wanted it to.”

Hearings this week

Two bills related to the Ethics Commission have committee hearings this week, though both are relatively minor in scope.

House Bill 1046 relates to advisory opinions, including allowing the commission to issue such guidance on its own initiative, as well as in response to a request. The hearing is at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Room 327B of the Capitol.

Senate Bill 2052 clarifies that elected public officials, not appointed officials, are prohibited from acting as lobbyists. The hearing is at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Peace Garden Room.

North Dakota was one of the last states in the country to form an ethics oversight agency. The 2018 amendment set some ethical rules for public officials and empowered the commission to both create more rules and investigate alleged violations related to corruption, elections, lobbying and transparency.