McKenzie County Farmer - Latest News

Patrice Bumstead
Farmer Editor

The McKenzie County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to un-restrict the state’s attorney office under North Dakota Century Code 11-16-05, at the regular BOCC Meeting on Tue., March 18.

Following the un-restriction, Attorney Ross Sundeen was appointed to permanently fill the vacant State’s Attorney position within the county.

Sundeen provided some insight through an interview with Farmer Editor, Patrice Bumstead, on the recent actions taken by county leadership, along with goals for the future of the McKenzie County State’s Attorney Office.

There was a lot of action taken by your office and the BOCC following the vacancy in the State’s Attorney Office. Can you tell me about that, what prompted your law firm to offer to fill in?

“Foremost, public service is a privilege. After our firm was designated to temporarily handle State’s Attorney matters about two weeks ago, we had a partnership meeting to discuss the county’s vote of confidence in our firm, and whether we could help the county out of its predicament long-term. We discussed this firm’s 45-year history in the community, our founding partner, the late Dennis Edward Johnson’s 31-year commitment to public service as State’s Attorney, and our continuing interest in public service. In the end we decided that more than any other -  we can best serve McKenzie County and its citizens by bringing stability, accountability, and reliability to the State’s Attorney Office. Something the court system needs and the citizens deserve.”
Now that the BOCC has voted and all are in agreement to un-restrict the State’s Attorney Office - How does that help you going forward?

“By lifting the restriction on service, with a designated State’s Attorney, our team of lawyers has more latitude to handle the day-to-day rigors of the job; not just court appearances by appointment. And we can immediately go to work for the public to address matters that need timely attention.”

How will the new appointment affect the current court docket?
“With the new appointment and restrictions lifted, we hope the court docket will be able to move forward more quickly and efficiently as it once did.”
Will cases/trials need to be pushed back in order for you and your staff to prepare to prosecute said cases?
“It is likely that some of the more complicated cases/trials may need to be pushed back in order for our team to prepare the case(s) for prosecution; but the real grind, is in the day-to-day operation. The volume of work unlawful behavior creates is staggering. Fortunately, we have a strong support team in the State’s Attorney Office to assist the lawyers, and that will allow us to work through the back log in the coming months.”

How has the transition been for you?
“It’s a great feeling being part of a team that pulls together at critical times. I cannot say enough good things about the problem-solving ingenuity and decisiveness of [BOCC] Chairman Howdy Lawlar and the BOCC to avoid a court crisis.”
“I am also very impressed with the on-boarding process at the County. Auditor Erica Johnsrud, her team, along with Human Resources, had us up and running in short order which is really appreciated.”

Are you receiving a welcomeness by other employees in the office - or do you feel like they are unsure of the “permanence” of your appointment?
“It’s been refreshing so far. Everyone is making us feel welcome and most that know us, seem to recognize we have a continuing interest to serve if the voters give us the opportunity.”

Now that you are the new State’s Attorney, what are your goals going forward?
“My primary goal is maintaining the integrity of the office. We want to provide the public with an office that is ethical, stable, accountable, and reliable. We want to be known as a team that is understanding, has common sense, works hard and treats folks fairly.”

“Our philosophy is that sometimes good people do bad things; and sometimes bad people do bad things. We want to be known as a team that understands the difference and treats each fairly and just under the unique circumstances of their case.”

Do you see any complications with operating a private practice while doing the governments work at the same time? How will you juggle those?
“We are no stranger to this arrangement. Before the restriction to serve went on in 2014, our firm operated a private practice while doing the government’s work for McKenzie County at the same time. That arrangement lasted for 31 years, without a lot of complications. Times are different, but we should be able to navigate those same challenges just fine.

With the appointment, how long will you serve as the State’s Attorney?
“I have been appointed to finish out the current State’s Attorney’s term. That term expires Dec. 31, 2026.”
I am sure you have seen and heard some of the rumors buzzing around town regarding the county being a hostile work environment. Is there any validity to those rumors? Do you believe that is why there was an abrupt separation of department heads between January-March? If so, how will you tackle those issues? If not, how will you approach the inter-office concerns that stem from the rumors? Sundeen did not respond.

I often receive questions from our readers as to why our judicial branch tends to order suspended sentences for defendants, rather than making them do their entire sentence, is that something you expect to continue now that you are the SA? Is that something that you have a say in, or how would you explain that to the average person not familiar with the system? Sundeen did not respond.
What are Aaron Weber and Ariston Johnson’s roles following the appointment of you as State’s Attorney?

“Aaron and Ariston have been appointed as Assistant States Attorney’s for McKenzie County. Aaron has been designated as the Chief Assistant and Ariston as the Senior Assistant. Those titles in no way define their skill set - just their responsibilities in the office. Aaron and Ariston are both two of the finest attorneys I know. They both are gifted trial lawyers and appellate advocates and will be involved in every aspect of the State’s Attorney Office.”

Is there anything else that you would like say, anything else you feel is important for citizens to know?
“Lawyers have an elevated responsibility to be active citizens and should give of themselves in public service. That is the philosophy of the citizen lawyer. Dennis Edward Johnson took that responsibility seriously and served as the States Attorney in McKenzie County for 31 years. After the 2014 BOCC decided to restrict the State’s Attorney Office and Dennis retired, there have been five different Acting State’s Attorneys and 15 different lawyers in that office.”

“There is a lot of work ahead of us, but our dedication to public service and our work ethic will make it light work. We believe we can bring stability back to the State’s Attorney Office, along with hard work, accountability, reliability and fair-minded.”

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