North Dakota Rural Recruitment Program
By Hon . Michael Hurly
As I write this column , SB 2233 passed the North Dakota Senate and House . SB 2233 is a bill relating to attorney recruitment in rural North Dakota counties and municipalities . In a nutshell , for a five-year commitment to practice law full-time ( 40- plus hours ) in a county of less than 15,000 people or a city of less than 5,000 people , 90 % of your in-state North Dakota Law School tuition will be paid . The tuition year shall be set for a certain year .
This is a first attempt to answer a problem I have seen trending over the last 10 years . This issue needs be addressed . As a rural attorney and now as a rural district court judge , I have noticed the ever-decreasing number of attorneys in rural North Dakota . This is becoming a significant problem for people with respect to access to justice . In my private practice , I had to turn clients away because I simply didn ’ t have the time in my busy practice . I would often tell people they would have to drive to either Minot or Grand Forks to talk with an attorney . Their response more often than not was , “ I don ’ t want to drive that far .”
As a district judge , the matter is more urgent from the criminal law aspect . The indigent defense attorneys that appear before me are excellent , but they are stretched far too thin . Their clients may not have phones or reliable wi-fi , and there are the distances between county courthouses creating hours of windshield time . I will tell you , Zoom is not the answer . It ’ s a great tool for procedural matters but not taking evidence . When someone is looking at felony charges , the only individual that is supporting them is their defense attorney . In other words , their advocate . I have heard more times than not how the accused is upset because their attorney is not actually present in the courtroom with them . This does not speak well for our great state . And , this is usually not the indigent defense attorney ’ s fault , but the fact they are spread thin , like butter
20 THE GAVEL scraped over too much bread . If I were to be honest with you , they deserve to have their attorney present with them .
The other matter , from the criminal aspect , is that if an indigent defense counsel gets sick or changes their career , it is highly disruptive to the criminal process in the rural counties . Everything then gets pushed back , which creates issues for speedy trials or disposing of matters quickly . This is also affecting representation of counties and municipalities . There are five counties in North Dakota with no attorney . There are 35 counties with fewer than 10 attorneys and , of those 10 , the number dwindles to usually two or three that are actually practicing or litigating cases .
Sixty-two percent of the licensed attorneys in North Dakota work in Fargo and Bismarck / Mandan . Almost 87 % of the attorneys work in the “ big cities ,” which are located in Williams , Ward , Grand Forks , Cass , Stark , and Burleigh / Morton counties . In other words , 46 North Dakota counties collectively contain the other 13 % of the attorneys . This is a problem . Zoom is not the answer . If my attorney can appear via Zoom , why shouldn ’ t I just get an attorney licensed in North Dakota from Minneapolis , Chicago , or Dallas ? It is a question begging to be sure , but I am seeing it already .
The attorney recruitment initiative program has met with great success in South Dakota . I am confident it will be a great success in North Dakota as well .
I would be remiss by not thanking Taylor Olson for her tenacity in helping drive this forward and the stats she gathered . I also want to thank Dean Michael McGinniss , Chief Justice Jon Jensen , Tony Weiler , Aaron Birst , Pat Weir , Debra Hoffarth , Amber Fiesel , Travis Fink , Jack McDonald , John Olson , as well as Terry Traynor of the Association of Counties . I would also like to especially thank Senators Bekkedahl , Hogue , and Larson and Representatives Ista , Klemin , and Roers Jones for sponsoring SB 2233 . If I missed anyone , my apologies . Thank you for supporting rural North Dakota !
Judge Michael Hurly is a district court judge chambered in Rugby , N . D . He was appointed by Governor Burgum in 2017 to replace Judge John McClintock . He was in private practice at the Traynor Law Firm in Devils Lake , N . D ., prior to his appointment . He is married to Kim Hurly and they have five children .