2 seek position of North Dakota Supreme Court chief justice

North Dakota Supreme Court justices Lisa Fair McEvers and Jerod Tufte have announced their candidacy for chief justice after Justice Jon Jensen announced last week he will step down from the helm.

The position is selected by a vote of the five North Dakota Supreme Court justices and state district court judges.

The North Dakota court system mailed ballots out to eligible voters on Monday, according to its website. The ballots will be counted Dec. 10. The count will be livestreamed on the court’s website.

Fair McEvers has served as a justice since 2014, when she was appointed by former Gov. Jack Dalrymple to fill a vacancy left by former Justice Mary Muehlen Maring. Fair McEvers was then elected to the court to serve a two-year term in 2016 and a 10-year term in 2018.

She previously pursued the position of chief justice in 2019.

Fair McEvers was formerly a state district court judge and North Dakota labor commissioner.

Tufte was elected to a 10-year term on the North Dakota Supreme Court in 2016. Prior to his service on the high court, he was legal counsel for Dalrymple and a state district court judge.

Jensen was elected chief justice in December 2019 and reelected to another five-year term in 2020. In a letter to the court system last week, Jensen said he would not seek reelection to the position when his term as chief expires at the end of 2025. He will continue serving as a justice.

Jensen’s letter did not provide a reason for not seeking another term.