The State Bar Association of North Dakota Summer 2013 Gavel Magazine | Page 6

NOW THE STATE’S LONGEST-SERVING ATTORNEY GENERAL, STENEHJEM HAS SEEN CHANGES OVER 12 YEARS
also required that retailers keep written logs of sales, required mandatory treatment for drug offenders and increased criminal penalties. “We have now seen a dramatic reduction in the production and use of meth in North Dakota, but meth still comes in from other states and it is still a concern,” Stenehjem says. “Prescription drug use has now become just as serious.” In 2003, the State Crime Lab was moved to his office, and in October 2008, the construction of a new facility was completed. “This state-of-the art lab is now bringing people to justice who 10 years ago would have eluded arrest,” he says. “Technology has created new avenues for criminal activity, such as internet luring of children by sex offenders and email and telephone scams,” says Stenehjem. “Consumer protection is becoming a greater concern in the state.” Voters approved establishing a North Dakota lottery in November 2002. The program was launched in March 2004, administered by the Attorney General’s office. Stenehjem says adding staff to run the lottery and transferring Crime Lab employees to the agency have accounted for some of the increase in employees, which in 12 years have grown from 160 to 205. Additional staff and more work in his office have come from the economic boom brought by the state’s energy development and the Attorney General’s responsibilities as a member of the North Dakota Industrial Commission. “A great deal of my time and that of my staff is spent dealing with issues that come before the Industrial Commission. This includes hearings on oil and gas permits and overseeing operation of the Bank of North Dakota, which now has $7 billion in assets,” says Stenehjem. North Dakota’s rising population has brought an increase in crime, especially in the western part of the state. “Another

North Dakota Attorney General

Wayne Stenehjem

problem is the increase in aggravated assaults, which has doubled statewide over the past decade.” Stenehjem says his staff is completing a study on aggravated assaults, which is gathering data such as location and age of offender. “I hope we can find a common thread that will help us deal with this,” he says. However, Stenehjem says even with increased crime numbers, “North Dakota is and will continue to be one of the safest places in the country. We need to be sure we are devoting enough resources to law enforcement and prosecution; however, there is no cause for extraordinary alarm.” The state’s growth has brought a greater demand for lawyers in the state, he says, and a lack of available lawyers to handle criminal cases or to be states attorneys is a concern. “This shortage affects the quality of law enforcement.” Although there are more lawyers in the state, Stenehjem believes, “North Dakota is fortunate to still have a closely knit legal community. We don’t have the same problems with incivility in our profession as other states do.” And, even after 12-plus years, Stenehjem says he continues to enjoy his work. “I believe I have the best job in state government. There are always a wide variety of topics and I am privileged to work with an extraordinarily competent and dedicated staff.” He remembers a comment Attorney General John Ashcroft made when he met him at a meeting in Washington, D.C., early in Stenehjem’s first term. Ashcroft, who had been the attorney general for Missouri before representing the state in the U.S. Senate, told Stenehjem, “I have never had the discretion to do as many good things for others as I had when I was my state’s Attorney General.”

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Some days I feel like I just got here.

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At the end of 2010, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem reached a historic milestone in his office. He became the state’s longest-serving Attorney General. Elected in 2000, Stenehjem’s tenure as the chief law enforcement officer achieved that distinction the beginning of his 11th year in office. Prior to that, Helgi Johanneson, who served from 1963 to 1973, had been the state’s longest-serving Attorney General. Stenehjem is the state’s 29th Attorney General. Since statehood, 14 of his predecessors held the office for two years or less. He is also the third longest-serving Attorney General in the nation today, surpassed only by Thomas Miller of Iowa, who has been in office since 1995, and Bill Sorrell of Vermont, who has served since 1997. Reflecting on the past dozen years, Stenehjem has seen different issues emerge, including the spread of methamphetamine and other drugs, the State Crime Lab relocation, implementing and administering the new state lottery, and now population growth issues related to the energy boom that have had an impact on crime and law enforcement. “I took office during a serious meth lab epidemic,” he recalls. “These labs had become easy to assemble and were very dangerous.” His office addressed this in a number of ways, including developing new state laws in 2005 that restricted the retail sales of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth production. The laws

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The Gavel Summer 2013