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North Dakota Legislative Assembly Then...and Now! - Legislative History
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The Legislative Assembly
Structural variations in the Legislative Assembly accompanied development in the state. Salient areas of fluctuation included district representation, committee organization, and legislative processes.
The number of legislative districts in North Dakota grew from 31 in 1889 to 49 in 1951, while the number of senators from each district remained constant at one and the number of representatives in each district varied from two to four in 1889 to one to five in 1951. Currently, 47 legislative districts elect one senator and two representatives each.
In 1889 the Legislative Assembly counted 36 standing committees in the House of Representatives and 35 in the Senate (Some of the standing committees named in the 1889 Senate and House journals now exist as procedural committees.) Committees listed in the 1889 House and Senate journals were Agriculture; Apportionment; Appropriations; Banking/Banks and Banking; Bridges and Ferries; Charitable Institutions; Corporations other than Municipal; Counties; Education; Educational Institutions; Electors and Privileges/Elections; Engrossment/Enrollment/Engrossed and Enrolled Bills; Forestry; Highways; Immigration; Indian Affairs; Insurance; Irrigation; Judiciary; Labor; Military Affairs; Mines and Mining/Mines and Minerals; Municipal Corporations/City and Municipal Corporations; Penal Institutions; Public Buildings; Public Debt; Public Health; Public Printing; Railroads; Rules and Joint Rules/Rules; School and Public Lands/Public Lands; State Affairs; State and Federal Relations/Federal Relations; State Library; Statistics; Supplies and Expenditures; Temperance; Warehouses, Grain Grading and Dealing/Warehouses and Grain Grading; Ways and Means; and Woman Suffrage. By 1951 Legislative Assembly standing committee organization was very similar to what it is now.
Procedurally much remained the same from early sessions of the Legislative Assembly to sessions of recent times--but with slight variations. For example, most of the Senate and House orders of business currently in place existed at the beginning of statehood. However, in 1889 consideration of messages from the Territorial Council and a final "third reading" of bills and resolutions were present, but dedicated conference committee orders were not. The 1951 orders of business even more closely resembled those of today, but they still did not specify questions of personal privilege, procedural or divided committee reports, or consideration of bills and resolutions on the consent calendar.
Legislative Staff
Alongside Legislative Assembly structural changes were shifts in the legislative branch's employment of session employees and permanent staff.
The 1889 House and Senate journals listed less than 30 Legislative Assembly employees; and although the Legislative Assembly later renamed some employment positions and consolidated others, the roles of secretary and assistant secretary of the Senate, chief clerk and assistant chief clerk of the House, sergeant-at-arms, assistant sergeant-at-arms, bill clerk, judiciary clerk, enrolling and engrossing clerk, messenger, official stenographer, postmaster, doorkeeper, chaplain, and watchman continued.
By 1951 the Legislative Assembly staff had grown to over 80 employees with an increased number of stenographers, doorkeepers, committee clerks, and mailing clerks and added jobs for desk reporters, proofreaders, bill room clerks, pages, chart room clerks, a cloakroom attendant, telephone operators, committee room attendants, and a calendar clerk.
In 2013 the count of Legislative Assembly session employees remained similar to what it was in 1951 at approximately 80 staff members. Differences from 1951 included the absence of positions such as the chart room and cloakroom employees; the addition of deputy sergeants-at-arms, administrative and staff assistants for legislative leaders, recording clerks, parking lot attendants, information kiosk attendants, and a supply room attendant; and an increased number of assistant sergeants-at-arms and committee clerks.
Further legislative branch workforce modification occurred with the addition of a full-time legislative staff known as the Legislative Council. In 1889 no permanent legislative staff existed. By 1951 the Legislative Research Committee, in its sixth year, employed a permanent research director. In 2013 the Legislative Council had 34 FTE positions to support the Legislative Assembly on a full-time basis through administrative, legal, fiscal, office, information technology, and library and records services.
Legislative Council
Legislative Management
- Staffing interim study committees.
- Drafting bills and resolutions.
- Supervising the publication of the "Laws of North Dakota" (Session Laws), the "North Dakota Century Code," and the "North Dakota Administrative Code."
- Providing legal advice on legislative matters to legislators and legislative committees.
- Considering problems of statewide significance that surface during the interim.
- Handling financial administration for the legislative branch.
- Developing and managing information technology services for the Legislative Assembly.
- Reviewing information technology in all three branches of state government.
- Representing the Legislative Assembly at interstate organizations, such as the National Conference of State Legislatures, Midwestern Legislative Conference, Council of State Governments, and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
- Encouraging coordination between the Legislative Assembly and other branches of state government.
- Responding to informational needs of legislators and their constituents.
- Handling miscellaneous interim business for the Legislative Assembly.
- Maintaining a library of contemporary and historical legislative reference sources.
- Preparing and submitting to the Secretary of State the estimated fiscal impact of an initiated measure, then tracking and reporting on actual fiscal impact if voters approve the initiated measure.



Legislators
Legislator demographics changed over the course of the state's history in areas such as legislator birthplaces and legislator occupations.
In 1889 no members of the Legislative Assembly had yet been born in-state as the state itself had just been born! By 1951 a majority of the state's legislators were native North Dakotans, but a number of legislators still hailed from beyond the state's borders. Below is a chart that details the birthplaces of North Dakota legislators as reported in the House and Senate journals in 1891 and 60 years later in 1951.
1891 Members |
Place of Birth |
15 |
Norway |
10 |
Pennsylvania |
8 |
Canada, New York |
7 |
Ohio |
4 |
Iowa |
3 |
Germany, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire |
2 |
Iceland, Ireland, Massachusetts, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin |
1 |
Connecticut, Denmark, England, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, South America, Tennessee |
1951 Members |
Place of Birth |
108 |
North Dakota |
13 |
Minnesota |
9 |
Iowa |
8 |
Wisconsin |
4 |
Norway, South Dakota |
3 |
Illinois, Indiana |
2 |
Missouri, Nebraska |
1 |
Germany, Kansas, Kentucky, Russia, Shetland Isles, Sweden, Switzerland |
Legislative Assembly member occupations varied with shifts in North Dakota's economy and population. Not surprisingly considering North Dakota's agricultural roots, farming was the primary occupation of the largest number of legislators in 1891 and 1951 and in 2013 was second only to retirement. The table below lists the occupations reported by legislators in each of the aforementioned years.
1891 Members |
Occupation |
58 |
Farmer |
11 |
Merchant |
6 |
Lawyer |
4 |
Stock Raising |
3 |
Real Estate |
2 |
General Merchandise, Journalist, Minister |
1 |
Accountant, Bank Cashier, Banker, Doctor, Farm Machinery, Hardware, Hotel, Livery, Lumber, Mechanic, Milling |
1951 Members |
Occupation |
98 |
Farmers |
9 |
Retired |
8 |
Lawyer |
4 |
Banker, Contractor, Insurance, Merchant |
3 |
Rancher |
2 |
Auctioneer, Business, Druggist, Implement, Business, Petroleum Dealer, Printer, Veterinarian |
1 |
Auto Dealer, Blacksmith, Cattleman, Chiropractor, Creamery Manager, Drugstore Owner, Farm Implement Dealer, Farm Management, Garage Dealer, General Merchandise, Grain Dealer, Lumberman, Milling, Newspaper Publisher, Publisher, Radio, Retail Building Material, Retail Furniture, Road Contractor, Seed and Grain, Store Manager, Trucker |
2013 Members |
Occupation |
26 |
Retired |
22 |
Farmer |
16 |
Business Owner |
7 |
Director |
6 |
Lawyer, Teacher |
5 |
Businessman, Executive Director, President, Self-Employed |
4 |
Contractor, Manager |
3 |
Doctor, Rancher |
2 |
Auctioneer, Banker, CEO, Consultant, Coordinator, Firefighter, Realtor, Sales, Vice President |
1 |
Administrator, Auto Dealer, Business Development, Clerk and Assessor, Crop Adjuster, Environmental Specialist, Fab Operator, Home Economist, Independent Landsman, Information Systems, Insurance Agent, Interior Designer, Investigations, Newspaper Publisher, Operating Engineer, Paramedic, Photographer, Provost, Psychologist, Student, Youth Worker |
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Photos courtesy of the State Historical Society and the Legislative Council