Committee Votes to Tweak North Dakota Lawmaker Term Limits

 Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, speaks about term limits during a committee hearing on Jan. 23, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(Michael Achterling – North Dakota Monitor) – A North Dakota legislative committee advanced a bill that makes a change to lawmaker term limits approved by voters in 2022.

The constitutional measure limits lawmakers to serving no more than eight years in the state House and eight years in the state Senate.

But for lawmakers elected in 2020, the measure effectively limits them to six years after the passage of the ballot measure. If those lawmakers were to run for office in 2028, they would hit the eight-year limit in the middle of the term.

Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, who is among lawmakers elected in 2020, is the chief sponsor of House Bill 1300, which proposes that the clock on term limits doesn’t start until after the November 2022 general election.

The bill would allow lawmakers elected in 2020 to run for election again in 2028 and serve through 2032, for a total of 10 years since the passage of the measure.

Koppelman said the bill is not an attempt to amend the constitution, but aims to clear up uncertainty about when the clock starts on calculating term limits.