A new bill introduced in the North Dakota Legislature seeks to clarify how term limits are applied to state lawmakers, ensuring that years served before 2022 do not count toward the newly established eight-year limits. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Koppelman, Weisz, Toman, Meier, and Ruby, along with Senators Castaneda, Hogue, Wobbema, and Myrdal, would reset the term limit clock for all legislators, beginning with those elected after November 7, 2022.
Under North Dakota’s term limit amendment, which was approved by voters in 2022, state legislators are limited to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. This bill clarifies that only years served after the 2022 election count toward that cap, meaning lawmakers elected before that date are effectively grandfathered in and can serve another full eight years in their respective chambers.
The change ensures that all legislators, whether newly elected or long-serving, begin their term limit calculations from the same starting point. Lawmakers appointed or elected after November 7, 2022, will have their service counted immediately, while those who were in office before that date will not have prior years counted against their limit.
If passed, the bill would allow incumbent legislators to extend their careers beyond what some voters may have expected when they approved term limits. However, it does not remove the eight-year limit per chamber, it just ensures that all lawmakers get a fresh eight-year period starting from 2022. The bill is currently under consideration in the legislative session.
