(a) When court is open. Every district court is considered always open for filing any paper, issuing and returning process, making a motion, or entering an order.
Rule 77.District Courts and Clerks
Group X: District Courts and Clerks · Last amended March 1, 2011 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 77 keeps every district court "always open" for filings, process, and motions, requires trials on the merits to happen in open court, and lets the clerk issue process and handle routine matters subject to the court's oversight.
Full Text of Rule 77
(b) Place for trial and other acts. Every trial on the merits must be conducted in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom. Any other act or proceeding may be done or conducted by a judge elsewhere, without the attendance of the clerk or other court officials.
(c) Clerk's orders. Subject to the court's power to suspend, alter, or rescind the clerk's action for cause, the clerk may:
(1) issue process; and
(2) act on any other matter that does not require the court's action.
Explanatory Note
Rule 77 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; March 1, 1999; March 1, 2000; March 1, 2002; March 1, 2011. Subdivision (b) was amended, effective March 1, 2002, to eliminate the phrase addressing judicial acts or
proceedings outside the district. See N.D.R.Civ.P. 39.1. Subdivision (c) was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendment is technical in nature and no substantive
change is intended. Subdivision (d) was transferred to Rule 58(b), effective March 1, 2000.
Rule 77 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 77(a) treats every district court as always open for filing any paper, issuing and returning process, making a motion, or entering an order. None of that depends on the court being in a particular session — there is no window during which those functions are unavailable.
Rule 77(b) draws a line between two kinds of court business. A trial on the merits must happen in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom. Other acts or proceedings can be handled by a judge elsewhere, without the clerk or other court officials in attendance. A 2002 amendment trimmed language from this subdivision about judicial acts outside the district, since that subject now belongs to Rule 39.1, which governs changing the location of a hearing, proceeding, or trial.
Rule 77(c) covers the clerk's own authority: subject to the court's power to suspend, alter, or rescind the clerk's action for cause, the clerk may issue process and act on any other matter that does not require the court's own action. That qualifying clause matters — the clerk's authority is real but not final, and the court can undo it. Subdivision (d) once addressed a separate topic, but it was transferred to Rule 58(b) effective March 1, 2000, so nothing currently occupies that slot in Rule 77.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a North Dakota district court have set hours for filing papers or getting process issued?
No. Rule 77(a) treats the district court as always open for filing any paper, issuing and returning process, making a motion, or entering an order.
Must every trial happen inside a courtroom?
A trial on the merits must be conducted in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom. Other acts or proceedings may be conducted by a judge elsewhere without the clerk or other court officials present.
What can the clerk of court do without a judge's order?
Rule 77(c) lets the clerk issue process and act on any other matter that does not require the court's own action, though the court retains power to suspend, alter, or rescind the clerk's action for cause.
What happened to subdivision (d) of Rule 77?
It was transferred to Rule 58(b), effective March 1, 2000, so Rule 77 no longer contains a subdivision (d) with independent content.
Where should I look for rules about holding a hearing outside the usual location or district?
Rule 39.1 covers changes in the location of a hearing, proceeding, or trial, and change of venue. A 2002 amendment removed that subject from Rule 77(b) and moved it there.
Source & verification. Rule text and the Explanatory Note are
reproduced verbatim from the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of North Dakota. Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: district court always open ndclerk authority to issue process ndwhere must a trial be held north dakotanorth dakota court clerk dutiesopen court requirement nd civil procedure