Judge of the District Court No. 3 Northeast in Statewide, North Dakota

2026 Primary Election

• Anthony Swain Benson — Incumbent Presiding Judge of the Northeast Judicial District #3 in Bottineau, ND

  Anthony Swain Benson serves as Presiding Judge for the Northeast Judicial District of North Dakota, a role he assumed in October 2025 and will hold through January 2028. Born in 1970, he earned a Bachelor of University Studies from North Dakota State University in 1994 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 2000. Admitted to the N.D. Bar the same year, he practiced law privately in Bottineau and served as Assistant State's Attorney for Bottineau County, as well as City Attorney. Governor Jack Dalrymple appointed him District Court Judge for the Northeast Judicial District #3 in 2015. He was subsequently elected in 2018 to complete an unexpired term and again in 2020 for a six-year term. Judge Benson has notably ruled that certain laws allowing government-authorized takings without an avenue for just compensation violate property rights.