by Bruce Feustel and Karmen Hanson
As one legislative council staffer describes it, “The white smoke came from the chimney.” What may seem like a regular occurrence in some states, the rare job of selecting a new Director for North Dakota’s Legislative Council comes around every 25 years or so.
Jim W. Smith, the veteran Legislative Budget Analyst and Auditor, was recently elected to be the new Director of the North Dakota Legislative Council. Jim is a CPA as well as a North Dakota native and graduate of the University of North Dakota. His tenure with the Legislative Council goes back to June 1979.
Smith replaces the previous Director, John Olsrud, who recently retired after 40 years with the Council, serving 25 of those years as Director.
While staff in other states may find this longevity impressive, it takes quite a tenure to turn heads in the Peace Garden State. The most recent staff counsel hire was nearly 12 years ago.
Earlier this year we featured "A Wave of Staff Retirements" in The Thicket and "Brain Drain" in State Legislatures magazine. Not that North Dakota needs to pay attention to those headlines, but there may be an opening for a legislative budget analyst. Apply while you can, because who knows when the next opening may come around.
Bruce Feustel and Karmen Hansen are NCSL's liaisons with the North Dakota Legislature. Photo by Lapsus, courtesy of Flickr.
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