NEW RULES , RULE AMENDMENTS TAKE EFFECT MARCH 1
NEW RULES , RULE AMENDMENTS TAKE EFFECT MARCH 1
MIKE HAGBURG Attorney at Law
Two new rules will take effect March 1 as part of the North Dakota Supreme Court ’ s annual amendments to the procedural rules .
New Administrative Rule 58 addresses vexatious litigation . It defines a vexatious litigant as someone who “ habitually , persistently , and without reasonable grounds ” engages in conduct that hinders the judicial process , such as making multiple unwarranted filings . The rule defines how complaints about a vexatious litigation may be made and what steps must be taken in determining whether a person is a vexatious litigant . It then allows a presiding judge or the Supreme Court to enter an order requiring the vexatious litigant to get court permission before being allowed to make further filings . An order made under the rule may be appealed to the Supreme Court .
Rule 20 of the Rules of Juvenile Procedure establishes guidelines for the use of restraints in juvenile court . The guidelines are based on the standards developed by the Supreme Court in Interest of R . W . S ., 2007 ND 37 . In general , the rule provides that restraints must be removed before a court proceeding unless specific facts exist to justify the use of restraints .
The Rules of Criminal Procedure saw a variety of amendments . In particular , attorneys and criminal defendants should be aware of amendments to Rule 23.1 on jury expenses . The rule was amended to allow assessment of jury expenses when , without justifiable or reasonable excuse , a defendant fails to appear for a jury trial . This is a significant change from past practice .
Criminal Rule 3 on the complaint and Rule 4 on arrest warrants were amended to allow licensed peace officers to provide support for applications for complaints or warrants through a written declaration made under penalty of perjury . The amendments were designed to facilitate the submission of electronic documents in support of complaints and warrants . Rule 41 was similarly amended , effective Dec . 15 , 2016 , to allow search warrant applications to be supported by written declarations .
Criminal Rule 11 on pleas was amended to clarify the procedure for entering a conditional guilty plea . Rules 5 , 5.1 , 7 , and 9 were amended to replace the term “ preliminary examination ” with “ preliminary hearing ” throughout the criminal rules .
Administrative Rule 41 saw significant amendments intended to clarify the scope of public court records access . The Rule ’ s Section 4 was amended to provide that public access terminals will be available at each county courthouse . The section was further amended to allow attorneys remote access to court records stored in the Odyssey system . The public and attorneys have been allowed to use these methods of access for several years : the amendments make this a formal part of court policy .
Section 4 also was amended to allow the Court to enact and implement policies to regulate remote access to court records . This amendment was driven by a need for the Court ’ s technology department to develop methods to deter data miners from overwhelming the Court ’ s public records search site with automatic records requests , activity which slows access for ordinary users .
Several additional amendments to Rule 41 were made to better protect certain types of court records . Section 4 was amended to limit remote access by name search to closed criminal cases that did not result in a conviction . Section 5 was amended to exclude from public access dismissed pretrial diversion cases , cases in which a magistrate finds no probable cause for the issuance of a complaint , and information about patrons of the North Dakota Legal Self Help Center .
The rule amendments are available on the Supreme Court website and will be published in the next edition of the printed rulebooks .
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