BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered North Dakota to pay $175,000 in attorney fees to a farm group that sued over the state’s anti-corporate farming law.
North Dakota Farm Bureau and others sued in 2016 to strike the law that voters approved in 1932 to protect the state’s family farming heritage. Plaintiffs argued the law limits farmers’ business options and interferes with interstate commerce.
The Bismarck Tribune reports U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland last year allowed the law to stand but said the state must extend an exception allowing small family farm corporations to corporations organized outside the state.
Hovland in his recent ruling criticized the state’s “attempt to recast” his September 2018 ruling.
Farm Bureau declined comment, citing ongoing litigation. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says the state won’t appeal.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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