IN RE: the VACANCY IN JUDGESHIP NO. 4 (2025)

[¶1] On March 20, 2025, Governor Kelly Armstrong notified the Supreme Court of the retirement of the Honorable John A. Thelen, Judge of the District Court, Northeast Central Judicial District, effective August 1, 2025. Judge Thelen's retirement creates a vacancy under N.D.C.C. § 27-05-02.1.

[¶2] Under N.D.C.C. § 27-05-02.1, within 90 days of receiving notice of a vacancy, this Court is required to determine whether the office is necessary for effective judicial administration. This Court may, consistent with that determination, order the vacancy filled, order the vacant office transferred to another judicial district in which an additional judge is necessary, or abolish the vacant judicial office, with or without a transfer.

[¶3] Under N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, notice of a written consultation with attorneys and judges and other interested persons in the Northeast Central Judicial District was posted March 24, 2025, on the website of the Supreme Court regarding the vacancy created by Judge Thelen's retirement in Judgeship No. 4. Written comments on the vacancy were permitted through April 21, 2025. This procedure is sufficient for purposes of the consultation required under N.D.C.C. § 27-05-02.1.

[¶4] A report containing population and caseload trends, and other criteria identified in Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, Section 4, was filed April 2, 2025, by the Northeast Central Judicial District. The State Court Administrator filed weighted caseload statistics for calendar years 2023 and 2024 for the Northeast Central Judicial District and statewide. No comments or petitions for relocation were received.

[¶5] The Northeast Central Judicial District is comprised of Grand Forks and Nelson Counties. The District has six judges chambered in Grand Forks. The judges are responsible for an equal share of civil and criminal cases in the district. They operate on a rotation plan of one week each of criminal master, juvenile master, criminal trial, civil master, civil trial, and backup or review.

[¶6] The caseload decreased 279 from 2023 to 2024. The weighted caseload provided that the decrease was primarily due to a decrease in contract/collection and felony cases. The weighted caseload statistics show the two-year average need for judicial officers in the Northeast Central Judicial District decreased from 6.39 to 6.13 from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024. While the shortage decreased, a shortage of 0.13 remains. The district maintains four treatment courts with a judicial need of 0.53. Vacating or moving this judgeship would create a shortage in the district and make it difficult to provide effective judicial services.

[¶7] The population in the district increased 10 percent from 2010 to the 2025 estimate. The population of Grand Forks County increased and Nelson County decreased. The judges travel to Nelson County.

[¶8] Vacating or moving this judgeship would create additional judicial shortage in the district and make it difficult to provide effective judicial services.

[¶9] Under the criteria of Section 4 of N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.2, this Court has considered all submissions and its own administrative records on statewide weighted caseload data.

[¶10] Based on the record before us, this Court determines this office is necessary for effective judicial administration in its present location.

[¶11] IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that Judgeship No. 4 at Grand Forks in the Northeast Central Judicial District be filled in the manner provided by N.D.C.C. ch. 27-25.

Per Curiam

[¶12] Jon J. Jensen, C.J. Daniel J. Crothers Lisa Fair McEvers Jerod E. Tufte Douglas A. Bahr