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Committee approves clarifying change to timber‑damage statute after insurer, farmer testimony
Summary
Senate Bill 22,250 would modernize language used to determine when enhanced (treble) damages apply for willful or reckless damage to trees and timber. Insurers and farm groups supported the update as a clarification to limit extraordinary treble awards to intentional or reckless conduct; the committee voted to recommend the bill.
Senate Bill 22,250, which updates language in North Dakota law governing damages for wrongful injury to timber and trees, received committee approval Wednesday after insurers, farm groups and legislators described the measure as a modernization that clarifies when treble damages apply.
Sponsor Senator Jerry Klein said the existing statute dates from territorial law and contains terms such as "wrongful," "involuntary" and "casual" that can be ambiguous in modern litigation. The proposed change retains the availability of aggravated (treble) damages but narrows the standard to conduct that is "willful and wanton," a phrase lawyers said more closely aligns with current common‑law definitions of intentional or reckless conduct.
Why it matters: Witnesses told the committee treble damages in large timber‑loss cases can exceed insured limits and place farms at risk of financial devastation. Insurers and farm‑industry witnesses argued the update would protect producers from disproportionate awards in accidental incidents (for example, combine fires that then spread) while leaving aggravated remedies available for deliberate, malicious or recklessly indifferent acts.
What the committee did: Representative Twight moved a do‑pass recommendation and Representative Anderson seconded. The clerk called a roll; the committee recorded an 11‑2‑1 vote in favor of the do‑pass recommendation. The motion passed and the committee carried the bill forward with the recommendation.
Clarifying details: Insurer testimony cited examples where accidental machinery fires, despite immediate firefighting efforts, reignited and damaged adjacent tree rows; insurers said case law and the antiquated statute language created uncertainty and the possibility of disproportionate treble awards. Supporters said the bill does not eliminate treble damages but targets them to culpable conduct.
