1. Local Governance recommendation

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION 98-14 May 12, 1998 Page 11 vote of the qualified electors of the county at a primary or general election not less than sixty days nor more than two years, as specified in the petition, after determining that the petition is sufficient. The question on the ballot at the election must be framed in a manner that fairly and accurately describes the substance of the proposed plan. The board shall cause the complete text of the proposed plan to be published in the official newspaper of the county, at least once during two different weeks within the thirty-day period immediately preceding the date of the election. The board of county commi~sioners may, prior to the election, hold public hearings and community forums and use other suitable means to disseminate information, receive suggestions and comments, and encourage public discussion of the purpose, conclusions, and recommendations of the plan. If a . maj ori ty '.' of the qualified-"e;t.ect:~:rsvoting on the question approves of its adoption, the plan is effective according to its terms. N.D.C.C. Si 11-10.2-02(2). In addition to this right of initiative, where the board of county commissioners, by resolution, has combined or separated elective county officers or redesignated a county office as elective or appointive, there is a provision for a referendum by county electors which also requires that a petition be presented by 10 percent or more of the total number of qualified electors of the county voting for governor at'the most recent gubernatorial election, which petition, if received within the appropriate time period, will suspend the county board's action. N.D.C.C. Si 11-10.2-02(1). Article VII, Section 9 of the North Dakota Constitution provides for a citizen initiative on questions of a county's form of government or on the elimination or reinstatement of elective county offices, with the measure to be placed on the ballot by a petition consisting of electors of the county equal in number to 25 percent of the votes cast in the county for the office of governor at the preceding gubernatorial election. The constitution of the state is its paramount law and is a self-imposed restraint upon the people of the state in the exercise of their governmental sovereign power, either by themselves through the initiative or by their agency, the Legislature. Northwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Wentz, 103 N.W.2d 245, 252 (N.D. 1960). The North Dakota Constitution is an instrument of limitations rather than an instrument of grants such as the United States Constitution, and under the North Dakota Constitution, the Legislature has plenary