County with only one attorney looks for prosecutor

CARSON, N.D. - Grant County's chief prosecutor hasn't spent one day on the job in two years. He hasn't filed a single brief or prosecuted a case. In fact, he never even wanted the job.

But Ronald Weikum is the last attorney left in this county of about 2,850 people. A single voter wrote his name on the ballot for county prosecutor in a primary election, and before he knew it he had the job.

''I never even campaigned,'' he said. ''And I've never taken a paycheck.''

After the last election, Weikum, who has a private practice, appointed Jim Gion, already the state's attorney in neighboring Hettinger County, to do the job in Grant County as well.

The three county commissioners would like to avoid a similar situation in the future. They are asking voters to decide Tuesday whether they can appoint an out-of-county attorney to officially hold the job.

Grant County isn't the only county lacking lawyers, or other people for that matter. North Dakota has 17 counties with fewer than 3,000 residents. Grant County has lost 25 percent of its population since 1990 alone.

''I think the other counties are saying, 'Grant is really taking the lead here, let's see how it plays out there before we do something,''' Terry Traynor, the North Dakota Association of Counties director, said of Tuesday's county ballot measure.

''County commissioners are worried this kind of thing is going to become more common,'' he said.

Steele County, with a population of about 2,100, already has switched to an appointed state's attorney.

On the state's western border, Slope County, with population of about 900, has an elected prosecutor that also runs for office in neighboring Adams County. A recent change to North Dakota's candidate eligibility rules now bars that arrangement. Slope County Auditor Renita Braun said the commission has yet to reconsider the issue.

Gion now travels between Grant and Hettinger counties, an area more than 100 miles wide and nearly as long, for such duties as interpreting fence line disputes, prosecuting drunken driving offenses and counseling city residents.

''It's kind of like riding the circuit back in the mid-1800s,'' Gion said. ''Judges and attorneys would ride from town to town. The traveling courtroom would decide a case, then pack up and ride to the next town.''

Officials say it is hard to tell what the voters will decide in Tuesday's initiative. Only 25 people showed up for a public meeting on the issue, and most of them were courthouse employees. Residents on the city's main street mostly shrugged their shoulders last week when asked about the situation.

''They don't want to look at these options,'' Gion said. ''It's just like school consolidation. No one wants to face the music: The county is losing people.''