Wayne Stenehjem |
ATTORNEY GENERAL |
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| Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem was born in Mohall, North Dakota.
He graduated from the University of North Dakota and received his law degree from the UND School of Law in 1977.
General Stenehjem is married to Beth Bakke Stenehjem and has a son, Andrew. |
| From his admission to the Bar in 1977 until taking Office, General Stenehjem was continuously engaged in the private practice of law in Grand Forks, North Dakota,
representing clients in a broad range of legal matters. Over the years he has served on various ad hoc groups to promote issues of concern to the community and the state. |
| General Stenehjem was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1976, serving for two terms until his election to the ND Senate in 1980.
General Stenehjem served continuously in the Senate until his election to the Office of Attorney General. He served on the Judiciary Committee throughout his tenure
in the Legislature, and was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995-2000. General Stenehjem was elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate by his colleagues
for the 1999 Legislative Session. |
| General Stenehjem has served as a member of the National Conference of State Legislator’s criminal justice task force, the Criminal Justice Task force of
the American Legislative Exchange Council, ND State Gaming Commission, Juvenile Justice Task Force; he is also a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws. |
| General Stenehjem is the recipient of “Champion of the People’s Right to Know” award; SBAND Legislative Service Award; Council on Abused Women’s Services award;
“Friend of Psychology” award; named one of Ten Outstanding Legislators in the US by Association of Government Employees. |
| General Stenehjem was sworn in on January 9, 2001. Since taking office he has made drug enforcement a priority, developing a drug enforcement initiative that will
combine and coordinate law enforcement, health and human service agencies as well as addiction counseling, youth education, and legislative changes for offenders. |
| He recently launched a comprehensive state-wide plan to combat drug activity and in particular to address the rapidly growing problem of methamphetamine manufacturing
and trafficking in the state. The plan involves proposed changes in current state law including improving and expanding upon the drug paraphernalia definition to encompass products
which may be used to manufacture methamphetamine. The plan also proposes changes which would coordinate the various aspects of the program between a number of entities. The changes
will greatly improve efficiency and will consolidate all drug offenses into one section of the statutory code. |
| The plan also calls for a centralized gathering of information by the Attorney General’s office. The office will become the clearinghouse for and provide analysis of
information regarding prevention, enforcement and treatment generated by several agencies including the state crime lab, health department, human services and the department of corrections.
The plan promises to deal aggressively with a problem that is of great concern to the state. |
| General Stenehjem has also been closely working with the legislature and Department of Corrections to protect the public from sex offenders by improving the current sex offender
registration law. The proposed legislation would include such aspects as allowing public disclosure of high-risk offenders by Internet access on the Attorney General’s web page.
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| The current state of the interstate compact for adult offender supervision is another issue Attorney General Stenehjem is closely monitoring. The Attorney General is providing support to the legislature
in determining the best course of action for addressing some of the problems with the proposed new compact initiative. |