The Hon. Donovan J. Foughty is a judge for the North Dakota Northeast Judicial District. He was elected to the bench in 1994 and re-elected in 1996, 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020.
The Northeast Judicial District includes Benson County, Bottineau County, Cavalier County, McHenry County, Pembina County, Pierce County, Ramsey County, Renville County, Rolette County, Towner County, and Walsh County.
Over the course of his judicial career, Foughty has presided as a trial judge in tribal courts in North Dakota as well as an appellate court judge for the Northern Plains Intertribal Court of Appeals in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Foughty earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota. He then completed a J.D. at the University of North Dakota School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of North Dakota in 1983.
After graduating from law school, Foughty entered into private practice. He worked in that capacity until 1983, at which time he became a county judge in Ramsey County and Towner County.
His memberships have included the Tribal/State Court Forum in North Dakota, the North Dakota Judicial Conduct Commission, the North Dakota Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts, and the Justice Commission for the Three Affiliated Tribes. He also sat on the Committee on Tribal & State Court Affairs and the Minority Justice Implementation Committee, and he served on the Board of Directors of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.
Foughty was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota.