Lawmaker criticizes criminal prosecution of Jason Dockter

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A legislative leader defended a colleague charged with a conflict-of-interest crime, arguing that the regulatory body that referred the lawmaker for prosecution is punishing legislators for breaking rules that are too confusing to understand. “You can’t have sitting legislators looking over their shoulder every time we vote on something,” House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said last week during a Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee meeting. The Legislature is subject to oversight from the North Dakota Ethics Commission — established in 2018 through an...