FARGO A recently passed North Dakota law meant to protect due process in liquor license violation cases has made it difficult for Fargo to pursue allegations, city officials said. The City Commission will vote Monday, Nov. 24, on whether to ask the Attorney General’s Office to review how the law applies to the city’s process of pursuing liquor license violations, City Attorney Nancy Morris told The Forum on Thursday. Morris and Police Chief Dave Zibolski told the Fargo Liquor Control Board on Wednesday that a law passed during the 2025 legislative session shrinks the amount of time in which the city can review a violation and penalize an establishment. “Literally what’s happened by statute is the timing of any violation has been crunched to the point where likely it’s not something that the city of Fargo, under its existing ordinances, can comply with,” Morris said. The Liquor Control Board unanimously voted Wednesday to recommend asking for the attorney general’s opinion on the matter. If the City Commission follows that recommendation, Fargo would question the law created by House Bill 1375. Signed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong in April, the law requires an individual at a bar to show their license or other proof of identification to law enforcement if an officer believes that person is not at least 21 years old. A person who refuses is guilty of an infraction, according to the law. The law is meant to discourage minors from using fake IDs, said North Dakota Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, who sponsored HB 1375. Fake IDs have become harder to spot in recent years, with some able to fool ID scanners. The law has a second part meant to guarantee due process for liquor establishments, he noted. Violations must be reported within 14 days of the accusation, according to the state law. A city attorney or county prosecutor also must set a hearing for the establishment violation “not later than the next regular meeting of the local governing body,” and the governing body must publish notice of the hearing at least five days before the hearing, the law said. The Fargo City Commission holds meetings every two weeks on Mondays. The Liquor Control Board, which meets on the third Wednesday of each month, must review each violation before sending recommendations to the City Commission, according to city ordinance. The City Commission may hold a regular meeting before the Liquor Board can review a violation, meaning the time limit to pursue the violation closes, Morris said. The House passed the bill 82-9, and the Senate unanimously approved it. The law change came after Fargo fined District 64, a downtown nightclub, $500 for serving a minor. In one of two incidents reported to police in 2023, District 64 used surveillance footage to show the city that staff members checked a minor’s ID, despite claims by police that security at the bar didn’t ask for identification, District 64 co-owner Chukwuemeka “Chuck” Ilogu said. Police accused the bar in a second incident of serving a minor, but the allegation came 45 days after the alleged incident, Ilogu said. The bar’s surveillance system keeps recordings for 30 days, meaning the establishment couldn’t prove its innocence, Koppelman said. “They got sanctioned without proof that they did something wrong,” he said. Ilogu testified in support of HB 1375 in February, saying he couldn’t defend himself against wrongful accusations. “I feel this bill would help ensure that law enforcement is held accountable for conducting timely and justified investigations,” Ilogu told the House Political Subdivisions Committee, which reviewed the bill. “It also prevents businesses from being unfairly blamed for issues such as fake IDs, which are often beyond our control.” The legislation creates “unworkable timelines” and erodes local control by overriding city ordinances, said Terry Effertz, an attorney who spoke to the Political Subdivisions Committee for the city of Fargo. “The 14-day window for filing a complaint against a license doesn’t leave enough time for some of these boards,” Effertz said. The recently passed state law applies to any liquor license violation, Morris told The Forum. Fargo officers reported that a restaurant served alcohol after 2 a. m. twice in as many weeks in October, Zibolski said during Wednesday’s Liquor Board meeting. Liquor establishments can’t serve alcohol after 2 a. m. under city and state laws. The city is unsure if it can pursue action against the bar because of the new law, Zibolski said. An attorney general’s opinion could determine whether the city has to change local ordinances or if the city can follow local rules since they were in place before the law change, Morris said. Cities were supposed to change their ordinances by the time the new law went into effect in August, Koppelman said. “If the city of Fargo has not made those changes since the law went into effect in August, then kind of shame on them,” he said. The law isn’t about trying to be hard on police or the city of Fargo, Koppelman said. Local governing bodies tend to assume a business is guilty until proven innocent, he said. The time limit was set to allow bars the ability to provide evidence of their innocence, Koppelman said. “We don’t want, in the name of being more convenient or more efficient for officers, to diminish the ability of people to defend themselves,” he said.
https://www.inforum.com/news/fargo/north-dakota-law-that-protects-due-process-in-liquor-violation-cases-limits-fargo-enforcement-officials-say