North Dakota Ethics Commission Adopts Updates To Complaint Process

(Bismarck, ND) — The North Dakota Ethics Commission is implementing updates to its complaint process. Several changes were adopted and implement on Wednesday. The changes were made after legislators determined that public officials were using complaints to prolong investigations and harass political opponents. Some legislators wanted to impose fines against complaint violators but legislators ultimately voted against it. The new rules provide an avenue to have certain complaints to be dismissed and they allow the commission to settle them directly with the accused where in the past the filer had to be involved.