How North Dakota handles a case
What happens after an arrest anywhere in North Dakota: who decides release first, how fast a person sees a judge, which courts hear the case, and who runs the offices around them. Every county in the state works under these rules.
From arrest to court
- Who decides release first
Jails and police follow the Supreme Court's Uniform Bail Schedule, which mostly points to release on a promise to appear rather than money. People held on felonies, on violent, sexual, or domestic violence misdemeanors, or on certain warrants may be held for a judicial officer. A district judge or a lawyer magistrate then sets release at the initial appearance.
N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 63N.D.R.Crim.P. 46- Time to see a judge
A person arrested must be taken without unnecessary delay before the nearest available magistrate. The bail schedule rule asks that every effort be made to hold the appearance within 48 hours of arrest, but no rule sets a firm number of hours.
N.D.R.Crim.P. 5(a)N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 63(g)- Money bail
North Dakota courts may set money bail. The magistrate must release a person on recognizance or an unsecured bond unless that won't assure the person comes back.
N.D.R.Crim.P. 46- Pretrial risk assessment
There is no statewide pretrial risk tool. A state corrections pretrial services program, piloted in 2020, does risk assessments and supervision in the East Central, North Central, South Central, and Northeast judicial districts.
N.D. Legislative Council, Assessment of Pretrial Service Programs (Aug. 2025)- Courts
The district court tries every felony and state misdemeanor; North Dakota abolished its county courts in 1995. Cities may set up a municipal court, which hears city ordinance cases but not domestic violence offenses or repeat DUI.
N.D.C.C. ch. 27-05N.D.C.C. 40-18.1-01, -02- Judges and magistrates
Voters elect district judges to six-year terms on the no-party ballot. Each district's presiding judge appoints magistrates, who serve at that judge's pleasure and must be lawyers to hold initial appearances or set bail. Voters elect municipal judges to four-year terms, and a judge who isn't a lawyer can't hear DUI cases.
N.D. Const. art. VI, sec. 9N.D.C.C. 27-05-02N.D.C.C. 16.1-11-19N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 20N.D.C.C. 40-18.1-02, -05- Prosecutors
Each county elects a state's attorney, who is the county's public prosecutor.
N.D.C.C. 11-10-02N.D.C.C. 11-16-01- Public defense
The state Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents provides lawyers for people who can't afford one. It runs regional public defender offices and contracts with private lawyers.
N.D.C.C. ch. 54-61- Jails
Each county or city must run a jail, contract with another, or join a regional corrections center that several counties and cities run together. County jails are run by the sheriff.
N.D.C.C. 12-44.1-01, -02
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Municipal judges moved from repealed chapter 40-18 to chapter 40-18.1 in 2025. The state's attorney's four-year term was not read from statute. That county jails are run by the sheriff rests on the chapter's definition of administrator, which lists the sheriff among others.