AG: County can’t keep fines from ordinance

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Stutsman County received a setback in its efforts to create an ordinance restricting weights on county roads Monday when the North Dakota attorney general released an opinion which said any fines generated by a county load limit ordinance would go to the state treasury.

“We were warned this may happen by Fritz (Fremgen, Stutsman County state’s attorney),” said Noel Johnson, chief operating officer of Stutsman County. “It takes the financial incentive out of a county ordinance.”

The opinion issued by Wayne Stenehjem Monday said a county may enact a weight restriction ordinance that duplicates state law but it may not divert the revenue raised by the ordinance from the state treasury.

The commission had drafted a county ordinance identical to the state’s road load limit laws. The idea was an infraction of the county law would result in a fine that could be used by the county to cover the costs of a deputy and the equipment needed to weigh trucks. The ordinance was never enacted.

“I truly believe the commission wasn’t looking to do this as a revenue enhancement,” Johnson said. “Just a way to pay for the enforcement.”

Doug Kaiser, Stutsman County commissioner, felt the attorney general’s opinion left the county few options.

“We don’t have any outs at all,” he said. “A home rule county should be able to do some things on their own but this ties our hands.”

Kaiser and others on the commission have blamed overloaded trucks for some of the deterioration of county roads.

“You’re suppose to protect your roads but this keeps us from recouping the costs of the man and equipment,” he said.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at (701) 952-8452 or by e-mail at knorman@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, stutsman, fines, roads, county, ordinance