Rule 44 Case Involving a Constitutional Question When the State Is Not a Party

If you're challenging whether a North Dakota state law is constitutional, and the state itself isn't already part of your case, you have to tell the state's attorney general about it. This applies even in private lawsuits between regular people or businesses, as long as someone is arguing that a state law is unconstitutional.

You need to send written notice to the attorney general right away. This should happen as soon as the case record is filed with the court, or as soon as you raise the constitutional question, whichever comes first. You can't wait until later in the case to give this notice.

The point of this rule is to give the state a chance to weigh in and defend its own law, even if the state wasn't originally involved in the lawsuit. Since the outcome of your case could affect whether a state law stays valid, the attorney general's office needs the opportunity to step in and present arguments if they choose to.