ND: Administrative warrant sanctioned by court was not an appealable final order

State Electrical Board had the statutory authority to seek a judicially ordered administrative search warrant for inspections, the one here was not a final order that was appealable because there were still procedures available before the Board. N.D. State Elec. Bd. v. Boren, 2008 ND 182, 756 N.W.2d 784 (2008):

[*P12] Although Boren contends that there is a final order because nothing remains pending in the district court, the statutory scheme contemplates additional proceedings before the Board. Section 43-09-22, N.D.C.C., provides a right of appeal from an inspector’s order. Furthermore, Boren has not established that he has exhausted his administrative remedies before the Board. Cf. Medical Arts Clinic, P.C. v. Franciscan Initiatives, Inc., 531 N.W.2d 289, 298 (N.D. 1995) (holding “if the impact of [a hearing officer’s] order compelling disclosure of claimed trade secrets cannot be ‘unmade’ and, after exhaustion of administrative remedies, there is no other recourse . . . , a writ of prohibition may be sought for judicial review of the hearing officer’s trade-secret decision[,]” but with limited scope of judicial review for that type of proceeding).

[*P13] We also observe that there is no specific right to appeal from an administrative search warrant provided in N.D.C.C. ch. 29-29.1. However, N.D.C.C. ch. 29-29.1 does provide procedural safeguards when a warrant is subsequently determined to be invalid. See N.D.C.C. § 29-29.1-05 (precluding use of facts discovered or evidence obtained as competent evidence in any action, or in imposing any sanctions, or as a basis for further seeking a warrant “if the warrant [issued under N.D.C.C. ch. 29-29.1] is invalid or if what is discovered or obtained is not a condition, object, activity, or circumstance which it was the legal purpose of the search or inspection to discover”). If the Legislature wanted to create a right of direct appeal to this Court from an administrative search warrant issued under this chapter, it could have written N.D.C.C. ch. 29-29.1 to do so.

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