North Dakota Century Code Title 15.1. Elementary and Secondary Education § 15.1-27-25. Royalties available under federal law--Distribution to counties and school districts--Continuing appropriation

1. Any money paid to the state by the secretary of the treasury of the United States under the provisions of an Act of Congress entitled “An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain” [Pub. L. 66-146; 41 Stat. 437; 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.] must be credited to the state general fund and the federal mineral royalties distribution fund and must be distributed only pursuant to the terms of this section.

2. Within three months following the calendar quarters ending in March, June, September, and December, the state auditor shall certify to the state treasurer the amount of money the state received during the preceding calendar quarter for royalties under the Act of Congress cited in subsection 1.

3. The state treasurer shall allocate the percentage of the total moneys received as required by this section among the counties in which the minerals were produced based on the proportion each county's mineral royalty revenue bears to the total mineral royalty revenue received by the state for that calendar quarter. The state treasurer shall pay the amount calculated to each county.

4. The counties may use any money received under this section only for the planning, construction, and maintenance of public facilities and the provision of public services. As used in this section, public facilities include any facility used primarily for public use as determined by the board of county commissioners whether located on public or private property.

5. The percentage of money received by the state under the Act of Congress cited in subsection 1 which must be allocated and paid to the counties under this section is fifty percent.

6. Any remaining money received by the state under the Act of Congress cited in subsection 1 must be distributed to school districts as provided for in this chapter. Any moneys distributed under this subsection are deemed the first moneys withdrawn or expended from the general fund for the purpose of state aid to school districts.

7. A reserve for distributions to counties pursuant to this section is created as a special fund in the state treasury known as the federal mineral royalties distribution fund. The state treasurer shall deposit in the fund fifty percent of amounts received pursuant to this section.

8. The funds needed to make the distribution to counties, as provided for in this section, are hereby appropriated on a continuing basis.