Subcommittee advances amended approach to Senate Bill 2029, adds 2027 sunset and options for separate office

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Senate Bill 2029 reviewed proposed amendments that would establish multiple oversight committees for guardianship and conservatorship, add legislative representation and guardian appointments to those bodies, and include a sunset date of June 30, 2027, for the new structure.

Chairman Freilich, who led the subcommittee, opened by describing the amendments as an effort "to make the bill a little bit more palatable, for the guardians" and said the package includes an exemption for "the human service zone directors." He summarized membership rules, term lengths and committee duties, and said he added "a sunset clause on this now, and it says ending 06/30/2027" so the structure can be reviewed in two years.

The amendments as presented add three separate boards in statute: a review board, an investigative board and an operations council. The draft text cited by the chair specifies membership such as three members representing guardians appointed by the Guardianship Association of North Dakota; representatives of family guardians; two appointees from the State Bar Association (one lawyer and one retired judge); one member representing the Protection and Advocacy entity; two public members; and two legislative members (one from each chamber) on the operations council. Initial terms would be staggered, thereafter three-year terms with a two-consecutive-term limit; legislative members serving concurrently would receive per diem. The operations committee's duties listed in the draft include budgets, hiring authority and authority to adopt policies recommended by the office.

Supporters on the subcommittee said the amendments retain many recommendations from the interim task force and the Windsor Schmidt report, and that centralizing oversight addresses gaps in investigations and financial oversight. Representative Rohrer said he favored trying the approach with the sunset clause, noting he "like[d] your idea about separating that" while still supporting the current amendments with a sunset. Representative Davis told the subcommittee he "echo[ed] Representative Rohrer’s sentiment" and said the sunset clause made him willing to move the package forward while addressing optics and public education about the structure.

Several subcommittee members also voiced continuing concerns about placing the new structure under the judicial branch. Representative Hendricks said he was "uncomfortable with putting all of this under the courts," citing worries about separation of duties between licensing/education functions and court appointment powers. The chair and members noted the Windsor Schmidt report raised potential conflicts if Human Services (DHS) both funds guardians and oversees them, and mentioned an alternate approach of creating a stand-alone Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship that would consolidate finances and pass criminal or other investigative referrals to BCI.

Because the subcommittee must act on a tight timeline, Chairman Freilich said legislative counsel (LC) had agreed to draft the alternate amendments quickly: "LC did say that they could draft this amendment by tomorrow." He added that Representative Ruby planned a full committee meeting the next afternoon and that any amendment would need to be "out tomorrow" to be considered. The subcommittee closed the hearing on the Senate Bill 2029 subcommittee matter with the plan to circulate the LC draft and present either or both amendment options to the full committee for consideration.

The discussion combined statute text details (membership, staggered three-year terms, per diem for legislative members, duties for the operations committee) with policy concerns (optics for guardians; potential conflicts noted in the Windsor Schmidt report; whether to house oversight under the judiciary or in a new separate office). No formal vote on the bill or its amendments was recorded in the subcommittee transcript provided; the matter was set to proceed to the full committee with draft amendments to be supplied by LC the following day.

Looking ahead, the full committee will receive the subcommittee's amendments and the alternative LC draft if prepared. If either option is approved by the full committee, the chair indicated it would be re-referred to appropriations. The statute text cited in the subcommittee draft would include a sunset date of June 30, 2027, to require a legislative review of the new governance structure.