Attorney General Issues Important Advisory Opinions in 2025

Attorney General Drew Wrigley issued an opinion to the North Dakota Office of Secretary of State finding Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion 25-01, regarding candidate campaign expenses, exceeded the commission’s authority to issue advisory opinions. Per Letter Opinion 2025-L-03, the Ethics Commission is limited to issuing opinions based on specified facts or conduct and is not authorized to issue legal conclusions. This opinion follows the earlier 2025-L-01 opinion by Wrigley requiring federal PACs active in state elections to report as a state PAC, in addition to the specified statutory provisions simply requiring federal PACs to file a copy of their FEC reports disclosing the state activity. Despite the statutory exemption from registration for federal PACs, the Elections Division of the Office of Secretary of State has confirmed the only way to file reports in the campaign finance reporting system is by registering with the Office of Secretary of State.