# Title 58 — Townships

## Chapter 58-06 — Board of Township Supervisors

### § 58-06-01. General powers and duties of board of township supervisors.

The board of township supervisors has the following powers and duties:
1. To manage and control the affairs of the township not committed to other township
officers.
2. To draw orders on the township treasury for the disbursement of township funds.
3. To recommend to the electors the expenditure of a stated amount for the purpose of
purchasing building sites, and for purchasing, erecting, locating, or removing any
building, township hall, or library building for the use and benefit of the township.
4. When a city which is laid out into streets is included within the limits of the township, to
cause improvements to be made in any street that may be needed as a highway if the
city neglects to make the improvements.
5. To prosecute all actions upon bonds given to it or previous boards.
6. To sue for and collect all penalties and forfeitures incurred by any officer or inhabitant
of the township when no other provision is made.
7. To prosecute any action for trespass committed on any public enclosure, highway, or
property belonging to the township.
8. To pay all money collected by it for the township to the township treasurer.
9. To levy the annual taxes for the ensuing calendar year as voted at the annual township
meeting.
10. To grant to any person the right of way for the erection of telephone lines, electric light
systems, water or wastewater systems, or gas or oil pipeline systems over, under, or
upon public grounds, streets, alleys, or highways.
11. To appoint the township overseer of highways.
12. To purchase road machinery and tools.
13. To request assistance from a county or district board of health or the department of
environmental quality.
14. To perpetuate survey markings.
15. To erect and maintain guideposts on the highways and other ways within the township
at such places as are necessary or convenient for the direction of travelers.
16. To examine, compare, and balance the books of the township clerk and the treasurer
at the annual meeting in March of each year.
17. To pay all or a part of the cost of electricity used in electrically lighting the streets of
cities located within the township.
18. To insure the township's property which is not required to be insured against loss by
fire or tornado by the state fire and tornado fund in a stock or mutual fire insurance
company or in the state fire and tornado fund.
19. Repealed by S.L. 1989, ch. 559, § 7.
20. To submit a budget for the township at its annual meeting.
21. If the township activates its floodplain management authority under section 58-06-11,
to exercise floodplain management authority by enacting a floodplain management
ordinance.
### § 58-06-02. Compensation of supervisors.

A township supervisor may receive as compensation for services up to one hundred dollars
a day for each day necessarily devoted to the work of a supervisor's office not exceeding four
thousand dollars in a calendar year. The electors of the township shall establish the daily
compensation rate for township supervisors at each annual township meeting. Additional
compensation over four thousand dollars may be provided for reimbursement of expenses as
provided in section 44-08-04 and for mileage as provided in section 54-06-09 for each mile
[1.61 kilometers] necessarily traveled in the performance of a supervisor's duties.

### § 58-06-03. Regular meetings of board of township supervisors - When held.

The board of township supervisors shall hold regular meetings on the second Tuesday in
March, on the fourth Tuesday in March, and on the second Monday in June of each year, except
that in the discretion of the township supervisors the meetings provided for the second Tuesday
and fourth Tuesday in March may be held on the same day as the annual township meeting as
provided in section 58-04-01.
### § 58-06-04. May hold adjourned and special meetings.

The board of township supervisors may adjourn from time to time and in cases of
emergency may hold special meetings on the call of the township clerk.
### § 58-06-05. Where meetings of board of supervisors held.

The regular meetings of the board of township supervisors must be held at the office of the
township clerk or at the usual place for holding the annual township meetings if there is one.
### § 58-06-06. Quorum of the board.

Two of the supervisors constitute a quorum for the performance of the duties of the board of
township supervisors except when otherwise provided by law.
### § 58-06-07. Board of township supervisors to elect chairman.

At its first regular meeting following the annual township meeting, the board of township
supervisors shall elect one of its members as chairman. The chairman shall serve for a term of
one year.
### § 58-06-08. Approve bonds of township officers.

At its first meeting after the election of township officers, the chairman of the board of
township supervisors shall approve the bonds of township officers and the officers immediately
shall enter upon the discharge of their duties.
### § 58-06-09. Audit accounts.

At the last regular meeting in each year, the board of township supervisors shall audit
accounts, settle with the township overseer of highways, and transact any other business that
may come before it.
### § 58-06-10. Business with board - When to appear.

All persons having business to transact with the board of township supervisors shall appear
before the board at any regular meeting or file such business with the township clerk to be laid
before the board by the township clerk at its next meeting.
### § 58-06-11. Floodplain management ordinances - Requirements - Limitations -

Definitions - Enforcement.
1. As used in this chapter:
a. "Floodplain management" has the same meaning as in section 61-16.2-02.
b. "Floodplain management ordinance" has the same meaning as in section
61-16.2-02.
c. "Indian country" means:
(1) Land within the limits of any Indian reservation that is under the jurisdiction
of the United States government and located within this state,
notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights of way
running through the reservation;
(2) Dependent Indian communities within this state whether within the original
or subsequently acquired territory of the state; and
(3) Indian allotments within this state, the Indian titles to which have not been
extinguished, including rights of way running through the allotted land.

2. A board of township supervisors by written resolution may exercise floodplain
management under chapter 61-16.2. Upon the adoption of the resolution, the board of
township supervisors has exclusive authority to regulate floodplain management and
shall enact a floodplain management ordinance applying to all persons and property
within the boundaries of the township, except for persons and property within a city's
zoning jurisdiction as provided under chapter 40-47 or within the exterior boundaries of
Indian country. The township clerk shall forward a copy of the written resolution to the
county auditor of the county where the township is located and the department of
water resources for inclusion in the central repository established under section
61-16.2-15.
3. A township not exercising its floodplain management authority under this section is
subject to the floodplain management authority of the county under section 11-11-71.
4. After acquiring floodplain management authority from the county under subsection 2,
the township may relinquish its floodplain management authority back to the county
upon execution of a written agreement signed by the board of county commissioners
and the board of township supervisors. The county may not require the township to
convey an additional authority legally afforded to the township in exchange for the
written agreement. The relinquishment of authority may not become effective sooner
than sixty days after the board of township supervisors delivers a written notice of
proposed relinquishment to the appropriate board of county commissioners.
5. If a township previously exercised floodplain management authority and becomes
subject to county floodplain management authority under this section, the township
shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the county and its agents, officers, and
employees from and against a claim for damages arising from a township's
noncompliance with chapter 61-16.2 and the national flood insurance program
[42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.].
6. Upon enactment of a floodplain management ordinance by a township under this
section, the township clerk shall forward the ordinance to the department of water
resources for inclusion in the central repository established under section 61-16.2-15.
7. The township clerk of a township exercising floodplain management authority shall
certify to the department of water resources by April thirtieth of each year the names of
the township supervisors and officers and that the township is undertaking floodplain
management activities under chapter 61-16.2.
8. A township exercising floodplain management authority is not required to activate its
zoning authority under chapter 58-03 before enacting a floodplain management
ordinance.
9. In a township exercising floodplain management, the board of township supervisors
shall enforce an ordinance or regulation enacted under this section. The board of
township supervisors may impose enforcement duties on an officer, department,
agency, or employee of the township.
