Stark County, North Dakota
County Information
Stark County was created February 10, 1879 as a county within Dakota
Territory from parts of Howard County and Williams County. The county organized on May
25, 1883, and became a county in the state of North Dakota on November 2, 1889.
In 1891, the North Dakota Legislature enacted legislation annexing Dunn
County, Hettinger County, and parts of Billings, Bowman, McKenzie, Wallace, and Willliams
Counties into Stark. However, the act was vetoed by Governor Eli C. D. Shortridge.
Additional annexation legislation was enacted in 1895, affecting the
boundaries of Stark, Billings, and Mercer Counties, subject to approval by the counties'
voters.The annexation went into effect November 3, 1986, but Wilson L. Richards, a local
cattle rancher, sued to overturn the annexation because he and other landowners in the
area were now subject to taxation by Stark County. The case went to the North Dakota
Supreme Court, which ruled the law unconstitutional on May 18, 1899.The annexation
remained in effect, however, due to a replacement law approved by the legislature March
9, 1899 in anticipation of the court's decision.
This second annexation law was overturned by the North Dakota Supreme Court
in 1901 because the annexation was not referred to the voters of the affected counties as
required by the North Dakota Constitution.This lawsuit involved a landowner, Henry
Schaffner, whose property in Williams County was added to neighboring Mercer County by
the 1899 law. Schaffner objected when the Mercer County sheriff seized and attempted to
sell Schaffner's property to collect taxes the county claimed Schaffner owned. The court
ruled that the seizure was illegal, since the 1895 ruling meant Schaffner's property was
outside of Mercer County's jurisdiction.
The Legislature passed a third annexation law in 1903, this time submitting
it to the voters Stark County and the unorganized counties of Dunn and Hettinger for
approval. The annexation was approved by 502 votes in Stark County and 65 votes in
Hettinger County, but it failed by 1 vote in Dunn County. Stark County claimed
the annexation vote valid, since the legislation required a majority if the aggregate
votes cast. However, the North Dakota Constitution required a majority vote in each
affected county subject to annexation, so the state of North Dakota sued Stark county on
the grounds that the enabling legislation was unconstitutional and that the "no"
vote in Dunn County meant the annexation failed. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled
the 1903 law unconstitutional. In 1905 Stark County received a minor boundary change in
1908 when Dunn County was formally organized. -- Source: Wikipedia.org
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Cities Note: all
incorporated communities in North Dakota are called "cities" regardless
of their size. |
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Antelope
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Belfield
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Daglum |
Dickinson
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Eland |
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Gaylord |
Gladstone
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Lefor |
Richardton
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Schefield
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South Heart
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Taylor |
Zenith | | |
