Home Rule Charter

The current Burleigh County Home Rule Charter was approved in the Primary Election on June 11, 2024.

Burleigh County Home Rule Charter
Burleigh County Home Rule Charter Ordinances

Preliminary Resolution on Separating the Elective Office of Burleigh County Auditor/Treasurer to Elective Office of Auditor and Appointive Office of Treasurer, Office of County Administrator, and Office of Tax Equalization

Whereas the elective offices of Burleigh County Auditor and Burleigh County Treasurer have been combined into one elective office and also consolidated the office of Tax Equalization with the office of County Auditor effective May 5, 2003;

Whereas the County Auditor/Treasurer’s primary duties are chief financial officer, elections officer, secretary to the County Commission, keeping track of all property taxes, and to act as the accountant, financial manager, and investor for the county;

Whereas pursuant to N.D.C.C. § 11-10-04, the qualification for an elected County Auditor or County Treasurer is the candidate must be a qualified elector in the county, which is at least eighteen years old and a resident of the county;

Whereas the Board of County Commissioners believes that more qualifications are necessary for an individual to be the chief financial officer of the County;

Whereas the Home Rule Charter for Burleigh County as passed on June 11, 2024, Article III sec. 3 allows the Board of County Commissioners to follow state law separating an elective county office into two or more elective or appointive offices and North Dakota Century Code § 11-09.1-05(6) allows the Board of County Commissioners to eliminate or combine county offices pursuant to N.D.C.C. ch. 11-10.2.

Whereas pursuant to N.D.C.C. § 11-10.2-01(1)(b), the Board of County Commissioners may separate an elective county office into two or more elective or appointive offices; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that effective April 1, 2027 and in accordance with the details of the following plan, the office of Burleigh County Auditor/Treasurer be separated into offices of Auditor and Treasurer, and the County Commission, may, if deemed necessary and appropriate, add the office of County Administrator at any time thereafter;

Resolved, that effective April 1, 2027, the positions of Treasurer and County Administrator, if authorized, shall be hired positions with minimum qualifications as recommended by Human Resources Director and approved by the County Commission;

Resolved, that effective April 1, 2027, the office of Tax Equalization shall have separate staff from the Auditor, Treasurer, and County Administrator offices;

Resolved, that a copy of this preliminary resolution and accompanying plan shall be filed in the Office of the County Auditor/Treasurer and shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks, with public hearings scheduled thereafter.

Dated this 21st day of May, 2025.
Brian Bitner, Chair
Burleigh County Commission

Plan to Separate the Elective Office of Burleigh County Auditor/Treasurer to Elective Office of Auditor and Appointive Offices of Treasurer, Office of County Manager or Administrator, and Office of Tax Equalization

The combined offices of Burleigh County Auditor/Treasurer and Office of Tax Equalization will be separated effective April 1, 2027. The purpose of the separation is to retain an elected auditor and to ensure that a treasurer is hired who has the necessary qualifications to collect, disburse, and invest the county’s funds. The separation will promote checks and balances and will involve the following changes:

The Office of County Auditor will be separated from the Office of County Treasurer. The non-financial statutory duties of the County Auditor shall be retained by the Auditor.
The Office of Treasurer shall be assigned all statutory duties of the Treasurer and all remaining financial duties of the Auditor, including primary management for all banking and cash management operations, investments, collecting, receipting, and disbursing county funds.
The Office of County Administrator may be created and filled by the County Commission if and when deemed necessary by the County Commission.
The Office of County Tax Equalization shall be separated from that of the County Auditor and County Treasurer.

The County Auditor will be directly responsible for the management of the County Auditor’s office and the County Commission will continue to provide the necessary staff, office space, and equipment necessary to perform the functions required of the County Auditor’s office.

The County Treasurer will be directly responsible for the management of the County Treasurer’s office and the County Commission will provide the necessary staff, office space, and equipment necessary to perform the functions required of the County Auditor’s office.

The County Administrator will be directly responsible for coordinating or overseeing day-to-day activities of the county pursuant to the direction of the County Commission and the County Commission will provide the necessary staff, office space, and equipment necessary to perform the functions required of the County Administrator’s office.

Additional staff of a Treasurer and a County Administrator, as deemed necessary, may be added. As current staff are assigned the current job duties related to the duties of the county auditor and treasurer, staffing for the offices will remain the same, however, staff may be reassigned to office of auditor, treasurer, or tax equalization to ensure all job duties of each office are accomplished with maximum efficiency.

The staff needed for daily operations for each department is:

Office of the County Auditor – County Auditor, Executive Assistant/Elections Coordinator, Administrative Assistant

Office of the County Treasurer – County Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, Accountant I or II, Accounting Technician, Administrative Assistant

Office of Tax Equalization – Tax Equalization Director, Senior Appraiser, Appraiser I or II (2)

Office of County Administrator – County Administrator

Additional staff needed for elections management every two years is as needed. As the offices of Auditor/Treasurer and Tax Equalization would be separated, those staff in the Treasurer and Tax Equalization offices would no longer be required to assist in elections duties. Therefore, other staff in other departments can assist as available, but there would be an increase in the number of temporary election workers needed every two years.

Public Hearing Dates

March 3, 2025, 221 N 5th St, Bismarck, 5:00 PM (Burleigh County Commission Meeting) - Video link of meeting
March 17, 2025, 221 N 5th St, Bismarck, 5:00 PM (Burleigh County Commission Meeting) - Video link of meeting
March 22, 2025, 10 AM, Wilton Memorial Hall, 105 Dakota Avenue, Wilton - Video link of meeting
March 22, 2025, 2 PM, Sterling School, 118 McKenzie St, Sterling - Video link of meeting
March 29, 2025, 10:30 AM, 221 N 5th St, Bismarck (Tom Baker Meeting Room) - Video link of meeting
April 7, 2025, 221 N 5th St, Bismarck, 5:00 PM (Burleigh County Commission Meeting) - Video link of meeting