1 week Ago By Peyton Haug
BISMARCK — North Dakota will be footing the bill for Sen. Janne Myrdal's defense in a lawsuit over her blocking a constituent on social media. Legislative Management, which functions as a legislative assembly between sessions, voted 10-4 on Thursday, Nov.
14, to pay Myrdal's legal fees. She said those fees came out to "exactly” $40,000. ADVERTISEMENT Mitchell Sanderson, of Park River, accused Myrdal, R-Edinburg, of violating his First Amendment rights after the senator blocked him on Facebook for leaving repeated politically charged comments.
After being tossed out by lower courts, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled to dismiss the lawsuit on Nov. 8 because Myrdal's Facebook account was personal and not operated using government resources. Sanderson was ordered to pay Myrdal $4,975.
Legislative Management's decision to reimburse Myrdal marks the first time a legislator will be paid back personal litigation costs in North Dakota. “We’re part-time lawmakers. We’re not on salary, we make per diem when we show up here, and we go back and live like everyone else,” Myrdal said.
Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, R-Minot, compared Myrdal’s situation to a similar case in Missouri. “The state stepped forward from the outset and defended her with state resources,” Hogue said of the Missouri social media lawsuit. “That did not happen with this case.
I think it should have happened. “I think it's appropriate that we as legislators protect one another from these forms of harassment and that protection means that if we incur costs because somebody thinks we as public officials don’t get to delete them from our social media, that’s just not appropriate,” he continued. ADVERTISEMENT There are no policies and procedures to guide this action, nor is there a precedent, said Legislative Council Director John Bjornson.
“I hope this becomes a precedent, frankly, in our state,” Myrdal said. “That amount of money is a large amount for my husband and I — we’re farmers.” While Bjornson said it’s unclear whether the action would violate the gift clause in the state constitution, Hogue emphasized the mechanism functions as a reimbursement.
“I’m having a hard time drawing the lines of why we would reimburse if it was a personal activity,” said Rep. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo. “If I am accused of sexual harassment, are my legal bills going to be covered? We just haven’t spent a lot of time discussing it,” he said.
“What’s the policy to follow? Is there a line?” Bjornson said the money would likely come out of the legislative assembly budget, which is under the legislative branch’s budget umbrella. “I don’t have those details yet, but my assumption is that her attorney has been paid for by her all along. It would be a check to her based upon verified receipts showing expenses paid to her attorney,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT Bjornson said there’s no timeline for how the payment will be carried out. Since the state has never reimbursed a legislator in such a manner, the process will be treated like any other bill submitted to the legislative branch, he said. Myrdal has served in the North Dakota Senate since 2017.
She recused herself from Thursday’s vote, which was split along party lines. Republican Sens. Hogue, Brad Bekkedahl, Jerry Klein and Don Schaible and Reps.
Mike Lefor, Glenn Bosch, Ben Koppelman, Emily O’Brien, Paul Thomas and Robin Weisz voted to approve the reimbursement. Reps. Boschee and Zac Ista cast dissenting votes, along with Sens.
Kathy Hogan and Tim Mathern, all Democrats..
