Jerod Tufte Supreme Court Justice for North Dakota discusses his campaign for reelection

This week, host Gary Emineth sits down with Jerod Tufte, Justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court — and a candidate on the June 9th primary ballot. Jerod shares his remarkable journey: growing up in Grand Forks and West Fargo, building a solo law practice in rural Kidder County, serving as a county prosecutor, deploying with the North Dakota Army National Guard on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and working in the governor's office before earning his seat on the Supreme Court in 2016. We dig into how the court actually works — did you know North Dakota's five-member Supreme Court takes every single appeal filed in the state? That's 300–400 cases a year, with no ability to pick and choose like the U.S. Supreme Court. Jerod breaks it all down in plain language, from how cases move through the system to how justices write decisions the average citizen can actually understand. We also talk judicial philosophy. Jerod believes judges should interpret the law as it was written — not update it from the bench. He's a strong voice for judicial transparency and personally rewrote the court's open records and open meetings rules to give North Dakotans greater access to their government. And here's the thing about North Dakota — you might run into your Supreme Court justice at the grocery store. That accessibility matters, and Jerod embodies it. Know who's on your ballot. Vote informed on June 9th. 🎧 Watch or listen to the full episode of Open Range — link in bio! OpenRange #NorthDakota #NDPolitics #SupremeCourt #JerodTufte #June9Primary #NorthDakotaNice #KnowYourJudges