State constitution omits executive branch in oath requirement
FARGO – For nearly 122 years, most people have assumed that North Dakota is the 39th state of the United States.
FARGO – For nearly 122 years, most people have assumed that North Dakota is the 39th state of the United States.
But a Grand Forks man says he’s been trying to tell us for the past 16 years that the status of our statehood is really in a state of flux.
Many of us think it’s the flat terrain, blizzards, bone-numbing cold, biblical floods and mosquitoes the size of robins that make North Dakota stand out.
On that, John Rolczynski says we have it wrong.
It’s that our state constitution is faulty.
The 82-year-old said the constitution names the legislative and judicial branches when stating who must take an oath of office but omits the executive branch. Rolczynski says that puts the state constitution in conflict with the federal constitution, and therefore makes it invalid.
Goodbye, statehood.
Hello, Dakota Territory!
Rolczynski said last week that his quest has been frustrating. First, he’s dealt with officials over the years who didn’t want to deal with him (judges, governors, legislators). And now he’s dealing with irreverent media types (guys like me).
“It’s a mockery! Sixteen years, and everybody makes it a big joke,” he said.
“In the meantime, what is North Dakota? Is it a territory, or is it a state?” Rolczynski asked.
A constitutional law expert says the error doesn’t mean we can stop paying state taxes.
Bruce Quick is a criminal law attorney at Fargo’s Vogel Law Firm. He also teaches classes at North Dakota State University and at the University of North Dakota law school.
Quick said the federal constitution requires federal officers to be bound by oaths but doesn’t mention a requirement for state officers to give their oaths.
Even with the omission of the executive branch in the state constitution for taking oaths, he said North Dakota law requires top executive officers to take an oath to uphold the constitution. That puts the state in compliance in that respect.
Also, the federal government approved the state constitution and all the other paperwork involved, he said.
So, like a marriage, once the “I do’s” were said, the nation was stuck with us, he said.
Otherwise, the alternative would be hanging around in a territorial limbo – sort of a northern Puerto Rico, without the sunny tropical weather, rum, ocean beaches and rainforests.
This spring, Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, and Rep. Tom Conklin, D-Douglas, finally managed to get a bill passed with an amendment to the constitution that would fix the gaffe.
The amendment will go to voters in the November 2012 election, where they will get a chance to edit their ancestors’ work.
Mathern called Rolczynski’s persistence a triumph for “a citizen accomplishing a public policy objective, which to me, is a testament to democracy being alive.”
But Rolczynski is not done yet. He wants to correct a possible second mistake in the North Dakota Constitution.
The constitution states that the Red River forms the entire eastern border of the state. But, Rolczynski points out, it’s the Bois De Sioux River that forms part of the eastern border from Wahpeton to the South Dakota line. From Wahpeton north, it’s the Red River.
“It does not say anything about the Bois de Sioux River,” he said.
Hopefully, this doesn’t take another 16 years to fix.
Inforum.com wrote: