Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has issued an opinion that a county commission has a statutory duty to sit on the joint board of county commissioners to approve the budget of a health district. A health district formed by combining counties or cities is a separate political subdivision from the member counties or cities, possessing only those powers specifically provided by law. A multicounty health district must submit its budget to the joint board of county commissions for approval. It has been the practice to have the county auditors meet and vote on the health district’s proposed budget as a “proxy” for their board of county commissioners. It is the member county commissions that make up the joint board of county commissioners, not the county auditors. 

Read the opinion at: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/sites/ag/files/documents/Opinions/2020/Letter/2020-L-06.pdf