North Dakota Legislative Assembly

North Dakota Legislative Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President Pro Tem of the Senate	Gary Lee (R) Since December 5, 2016
Speaker of the House	Larry Bellew (R) Since December 5, 2016
Structure
Seats	141
Political groups	Republican Party Democratic-NPL Party
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016
Meeting place
North Dakota State Capitol, Bismarck
Website
http://www.legis.nd.gov

The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The Legislative Assembly consists of two chambers, the lower North Dakota House of Representatives, with 94 representatives, and the upper North Dakota Senate, with 47 senators. The state is divided into 47 constituent districts, with two representatives and one senator elected from each district. Members of both houses are elected without term limits. Due to the Legislative Assembly being a biennial legislature, with the House and Senate sitting for only 80 days in odd-numbered years, a Legislative Council oversees legislative affairs in the interim periods, doing longer-term studies of issues, and drafting legislation for consideration of both houses during the next session.

The Legislative Assembly convenes in the west chamber of the 19-story Art Deco state capitol building in Bismarck.

According to Article IV, Section 1 of the North Dakota Constitution, the Senate must be composed of no fewer than 40 senators, and no more than 54. Similarly, the House of Representatives must be composed of no fewer than 80 and no more than 108 representatives. Section 2 states that the Legislative Assembly can divide the state into as many legislative districts of compact and contiguous territory as there are senators. A senator and at least two representatives must be apportioned to each senatorial district and be elected at large or from subdistricts from those districts. The Legislative Assembly may combine two senatorial districts only when a single member senatorial district includes a federal facility or federal installation, containing over two-thirds of the population of a single member senatorial district, and may provide for the election of senators at-large and representatives at-large from subdistricts from those districts.