[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6380139,"mediaKeyId","2133193-0d53611b5201e34b9a6dd79b1668bdb8","parentId",2133193,"title","Minot State, Dakota College at Bottineau outline workforce, capital and housing requests to legislative appropriation panel","audioSeconds",2968,"startMs",482000,"endMs",3450000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2133193-0d53611b5201e34b9a6dd79b1668bdb8&start=482&end=3450","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2133193-0d53611b5201e34b9a6dd79b1668bdb8/thumbnail_482000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6380139/North-Dakota/Minot-State-Dakota-College-at-Bottineau-outline-workforce-capital-and-housing-requests-to-legislative-appropriation-panel","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6380139-06b5b319e23ac283b4d8a08ffd9d5dcb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771195440&Signature=jNtWoaB9blifM9fhyelXr9MRYZ-1cUAZbpiC3Bh4ROt3baHJwphhzYfZPRC0GgT9eQZ-ngYtBT2OhLBWxzeTFAyUQEgO135R0seHii64-XpkJNIGNZ8D41xp7hYQQwgX~i-wsOjaJ0F~yRSNt93lYTWQxvqYH3JY0zQVC-TqaqwKnhNQnT-sbyxsMFYCLj1BIMe8hwV1vFuxWc6PZQBKYWH9fsV4jYaFOTFLkBFW1AvdGnvY~m6EOQxjaQ2~wYe~27ZRCFfhR886CK7UG26gKI8UGG5lyXK9JexTbc2xDtcpzELjhQQRQU8GoKdoyzwTae8pERC~Cm2C7wvGP1wFbw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Senate Appropriations - Education and Environment Division, ND","date","2025-01-20T00:00:00Z","article","Minot State University President Steve Shirley and Dakota College at Bottineau Campus Dean Carmen Simone told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that their institutions need targeted state support for health-care workforce training, campus maintenance and student housing.

Shirley and Simone presented program and budget details and asked for capital funding to acquire an existing downtown Minot health facility and to address aging residence halls at Bottineau, along with routine operating and formula adjustments for the next biennium.

The requests matter because both campuses say they are trying to grow health-care and teacher pipelines while coping with long-term enrollment declines, inflation on construction projects and competition for employees. The institutions told the committee that targeted capital investments — especially a downtown health sciences building that would be shared by Minot State University (MSU) and Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) — would expand clinical training capacity in a region that local health systems and the college say needs more trained staff.

Shirley, president of Minot State University, summarized the institution’s emphasis on workforce programs and recent fundraising: “We raised $55,000,000,” he said of MSU’s multi‑year capital campaign, adding that most gifts are earmarked for scholarships and academic programs. He told the committee MSU’s largest undergraduate major is nursing, and that MSU has expanded programs recently in cybersecurity, data science and exercise science to address regional workforce demand.

Krista Lambert, MSU vice president for administration and finance, gave the committee a short fiscal snapshot for fiscal year 2024: grants and contracts were the largest revenue category (driven by ARPA funds recognized for the Hartnett Hall remodel), state appropriations made up about 31 percent of revenues, and tuition and fees about 19 percent. Lambert said roughly $13 million of the roughly $26 million in grants and contracts in FY24 was tied to the Hartnett Hall project.

On capital projects, Shirley detailed a joint proposal with Dakota College at Bottineau to purchase an existing Trinity Health building in downtown Minot and convert it to a regional health sciences institute. He said the assembly request being advanced for the project was roughly $12.35 million for MSU and DCB together, and that roughly $8–8.5 million would be for purchase of the building with the remainder for simulation equipment and furnishings. Shirley said the facility is largely turnkey and would cost about one‑third of comparable new construction. He noted operating costs — including hiring faculty — would likely need additional revenue sources and pointed members to pending bills that could provide high‑demand workforce funding.

Simone described DCB’s campus priorities and the most urgent capital need on her campus: student housing. She presented photos and condition reports showing that three residence halls on the Bottineau campus date from 1959–1971 and have failing infrastructure. Simone said the college is asking for funding to demolish Gross Hall and build a new, four‑story, 160‑bed residence hall; the estimate she presented for that project was about $29.8 million (a figure that would include abatement and demolition of older halls). She told senators DCB currently houses about 140 students and that the new hall would replace aging facilities that are damaging recruitment and retention.

Simone also reminded the committee that DCB’s revenue mix is heavily state‑supported (about 48 percent of operating revenue in her slide), with tuition and auxiliary revenues making up most of the remainder; she explained the college relies on housing revenue to support operations and therefore cannot repurpose housing revenue to pay bond debt without creating a budget hole.

Both institutions also reviewed recent successes and near‑term program plans: MSU described the completed Hartnett Hall remodel, accreditation visits in teacher education and nursing, a 60‑year partnership with Minot Air Force Base and plans to add graduate nursing coursework. DCB highlighted steady enrollment growth, completion of an Old Main renovation, a newly operational downtown site that hosts dental assisting and medical coding cohorts, and plans to seek accreditation for a dental hygiene program planned to open fall 2025.

Shirley and Simone told the committee that construction bids have come in substantially higher than prior estimates, and that some projects include unexpected site work — for example, MSU described century‑old tunnels under Dakota Hall that must be shored before demolition. Shirley said MSU needs an additional roughly $635,000 above earlier demolition estimates for Dakota Hall because of those subsurface conditions.

Both institutions also described partnerships and workforce programs: MSU highlighted its National Security Agency/Department of Homeland Security designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in cyber defense and a “grow‑your‑own” teacher preparation pipeline; DCB described its three nursing sites, its dental assisting inaugural cohort and regional dual‑credit partnerships with more than 50 rural high schools.

The hearing produced no committee votes. Both campuses were asked to provide detailed cost estimates and schedules for capital projects and to confirm dates when presidents and deans could return for follow‑up hearings. Members repeatedly asked for prioritized lists of staffing and capital requests if the full package cannot be funded in a single biennium.

Shirley, Lambert and Simone provided the documents and slides used in the presentation and said more detail would be provided if the committee asks for it.

Ending: The committee deferred final decisions about the capital proposals and took no immediate action. Members asked staff to schedule follow‑up briefings and to include the institutions’ cost breakdowns and timelines in future hearings.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Appropriations - Education and Environment Division Jan 20, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Minot State University President Steve Shirley and Dakota College at Bottineau Campus Dean Carmen Simone told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that their institutions need targeted state support for health‑care workforce training, campus maintenance and student housing.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Education and Environment Division, Senate, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28899,"location","North Dakota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6380134,"Judiciary requests pay raises, 22 FTEs, guardianship office and AI filing tools in $167M biennial budget ask",6232,6242000,12474000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2133193-0d53611b5201e34b9a6dd79b1668bdb8&start=6242&end=12474","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2133193-0d53611b5201e34b9a6dd79b1668bdb8/thumbnail_6242000.jpg","/articles/6380134/North-Dakota/Judiciary-requests-pay-raises-22-FTEs-guardianship-office-and-AI-filing-tools-in-167M-biennial-budget-ask","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6380134-fb5e6dc11e9a000386ae605d81bc0b20/orig.mp4?Expires=1771195440&Signature=amNrZd9vLsKwBzXDl9~MfOseONzuwbOhhVIgNQFT3l3vnu-dBtCS~OJ5N80Lf7-nPOJqE4UALzuJanoVh3NEIaH-vhbEGKEayTIisRPTcdL2jj~JvR23M39~o6UAtPrHuH0njUjjvuS9ZIQTGVdC7CiuZXKOx1822fy~fV6dzJO8sq909EkS0gKNRxHOfXcgSopTJ-VH38YR7BbOKSu~K4oIjTaAHXM8hn9n96o8StTsSMzwpNJm4o287HAg2ETvvEL~XFmzW-eYZ6kwc2~8U~TVcCFT26Ft7ZxCSyEtmLZ35wvBAuk6kztvDlP7LCljbi3hZyAEVm~Su~D26xNHgw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chief Justice John Jensen and State Court Administrator Sally Halloway told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that the judicial branch’s 2025–27 budget request centers on raising judicial salaries, adding staff across district operations and court services, and upgrading technology to improve case processing.

The branch requested approximately $166.9 million for the next biennium (an increase of roughly $37.2 million over base), citing personnel costs, IT maintenance and several new programs including an Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship, a pilot court‑navigator position and an allied legal professional pilot.

The budget matters because court officials said salaries and staffing shortfalls are increasing turnover in clerk offices, straining juvenile and adult court services, and limiting the courts’ ability to handle growing demand for self‑help resources and specialist dockets.

Chief Justice John Jensen opened the presentation and asked the committee to consider several priorities, including judicial salary increases and expanded personnel. He said the legislature’s addition of three judgeships in the prior session “are greatly helping us with our excess workload in those two districts,” and thanked members for that prior action.

State Court Administrator Sally Halloway walked through the budget line items and the branch’s priorities and made a blunt plea on staffing: “Please give us some money. Don’t ask any questions,” she said, then immediately proceeded to explain the line‑by‑line need. Halloway told the committee that personnel are 83 percent of the branch’s budget and that the request includes funding for a 4%/3% salary adjustment (first/second year) for employees, a roughly $2.0 million request to bring judicial salaries to the national average and a separate 3% adjustment to the judicial pay grid.

Specific proposals included:

- Judicial salary increases to bring the state’s pay closer to the national average: Halloway and finance staff presented a one‑time adjustment that would increase the Chief Justice’s pay to the national average (an example number presented in testimony: Chief Justice salary rising to approximately $214,896 and other increases to comparable midpoints). Officials said the increase would be implemented in the first year of the biennium.

- New positions and staffing support: the request included roughly 22 FTEs statewide, targeted to juvenile court administrative support, deputy unit administrators, juvenile probation officers, IT programmers and network analysts, additional staff attorneys for the self‑help center and Supreme Court administration, and temporary coordinators for problem‑solving dockets.

- Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship (OGC): a proposed new division under the Supreme Court, with five FTEs and a request of approximately $1.5 million. The OGC is intended to consolidate administration and oversight of guardianship and conservatorship funds and functions that the branch said currently total about $19 million annually across the state; the bill that would create the office is Senate Bill 2029, which the committee and witnesses referenced during the hearing.

- Court navigator and allied legal professional pilots: the branch requested funding for a court navigator — an attorney to assist self‑represented litigants with forms and court procedures — and a pilot Allied Legal Professional program that would license non‑lawyer legal professionals to perform specified legal services in limited areas. The court navigator request was priced at about $330,000 (one staff attorney and operating) and the Allied Legal Professional proposal at roughly $385,000 (one staff attorney and operating).

- Technology investments: requests included a roughly $1.2 million AI‑driven filing initiative to automate clerk file compliance checks (vendor product via current e‑filing vendor), a $980,000 digital evidence management system, a $780,000 problem‑solving court case management module, and migration/hosting costs tied to cloud‑based case management and public access systems. The branch asked for $7.3 million in capital or one‑time IT equipment funding to update servers, courtroom audio/video systems, jury selection equipment and other infrastructure.

- Guardian ad litem program expansion and family mediation: the branch proposed an increase of roughly $935,000 to move YouthWorks’ lay guardian ad litem roster toward more stable full‑time positions and to fund post‑disposition monitoring; the Family Mediation Program asked for a smaller increase (~$138,200) to handle additional demand.

Don Wolf, judicial finance director, summarized the line items and said the executive recommendation included staff salary and insurance adjustments added by the governor’s office and reiterated the branch’s IT and program priorities. Wolf and Halloway also flagged high turnover among deputy clerk of court positions statewide — they reported 39 separate vacancies in the first 18 months of the current biennium across 99 deputy clerk positions — and said part of the request for additional clerical and juvenile administrative positions is intended to reduce pressure on probation officers and on judges.

Committee members asked for priorities and for more detail on projected cost savings or efficiencies from the AI and case‑management investments. Witnesses said the AI filing tool is intended to automate routine compliance checks (clerical in nature) and that the branch expects to contract with a vendor (current e‑filing vendor has a product) rather than build its own system. On the allied legal professional pilot, witnesses said the model is intended to increase access to justice by training and certifying a tier of professionals who can handle routine civil matters at lower cost than a full attorney.

No formal votes were taken during the hearing. Senators and witnesses agreed the proposals will require additional briefings, and several members asked for staffing studies and cost/benefit analyses for IT initiatives and the OGC proposal before making appropriation decisions.

Ending: The committee left the hearing with a directive to schedule follow‑up briefings and to consider staffing‑study findings and vendor proposals before advancing any of the new program appropriations into conference or budget language.","Chief Justice John Jensen and State Court Administrator Sally Halloway presented the judicial branch budget (Senate Bill 2002) to the committee, requesting judicial salary increases to national averages, roughly 22 new FTEs, an Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship, AI‑assisted clerk filing, and expanded guardian ad litem staffing.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Minot State, Dakota College at Bottineau outline workforce, capital and housing requests to legislative appropriation panel

Judiciary requests pay raises, 22 FTEs, guardianship office and AI filing tools in $167M biennial budget ask