State Ethics Commissioners to Evaluate Relationship With Attorney General’s Office

Ethics  Commissioners Murray Sagsveen, left, and Ronald Goodman, right.(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Ethics Commission is looking into whether strongly worded communications from the state Attorney General’s Office have negatively impacted commission staff.

The decision follows a July 3 letter addressed to the commission from Attorney General Drew Wrigley that harshly criticized the commission’s recent investigation report on ethics violations by Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck.

The report said the Attorney General’s Office at times did not cooperate with the investigation and did not turn over some requested records — a characterization Wrigley called “patently false.”

Wrigley said his office gave the commission access to all requested records except when pending investigations and court proceedings prevented them from being turned over.