News

Mayor Aufforth makes plea agreement with DUI charge

Scott Wagar

05/07/2013

On April 26 in the Northeast District Court under Judge Michael Sturdervant, Bottineau Mayor Ben Aufforth and his defense attorney, Bill Hartl out of Rugby, made a plea agreement with the prosecuting attorney Galen Mack from Rugby concerning four charges against Aufforth for driving and operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor or drugs, failing to give immediate notice of a reportable accident, care required in operating a vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident involving an unattended vehicle.

Within the plea agreement, the two charges of leaving a scene of an accident and care required in operation of a vehicle were dismissed against Aufforth.

The charge of failure to give immediate notice of a reportable accident, Aufforth pleaded guilty and was fined $450 for a traffic bond forfeiture/state.
As to the DUI, Aufforth again pleaded guilty and was ordered to conduct the following:

  •  The defendant will pay a criminal administration fee in the amount of $125.
  •  The defendant will pay a defense/facility administration fee in the amount of $100.
  •  The defendant will pay a fine/state fee in the amount of $250.
  •  The defendant will pay a victim-witness fee in the amount of $25.
  •  The defendant will serve 10 days in the Bottineau County jail with 10 days of this sentence to be suspended for 18 months.
  •  The defendant is placed under unsupervised probation for a period of 18 months from the date of this criminal judgment. The conditions of probation are as follows:

1) The defendant must report to a licensed addiction evaluator to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation and file proof with the court by June 26, 2013. The defendant is required to follow all recommendation made by the evaluator; provided, however, that any recommended treatment shall not, without the defendant’s consent continue for longer than the probationary period

2) If the defendant disagrees with the treatment recommendations, he may, within 10 days after receiving the recommendations, request a hearing before the court to assess the appropriateness of alternative treatment programs. The defendant may be represented by counsel at such hearing.

  •  The defendant will not commit any offense of a Class B Misdemeanor or greater.
  •  A violation of the rules or conditions may result in revocation of the defendant’s probation, whereupon the court may impose the maximum penalty allowed by law.


The charges came against Aufforth after becoming inebriated and hitting a parked vehicle that was unoccupied, and then leaving the scene of the accident before local law enforcement was notified.