Retired head of N.D. Game and Fish charged with sexual misconduct

Terry Steinwand (Burleigh Morton Detention Center)

MANDAN, N.D. (KFGO) – A criminal sexual misconduct charge has been filed against the retired director of North Dakota Game and Fish.

The criminal complaint, filed in South Central District Court, says a girl, known to Terry Steinwand, told a counselor at that Steinwand touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions, both over and under her clothes.

Steinwand was later interviewed by a Mandan police investigator at the police station. He admitted to touching the girl in what he described as a tickling motion and used it to calm her down. Steinwand was arrested last Friday afternoon and taken to the Burleigh Morton Detention Center in Bismarck where he spent the weekend.

The charge of gross sexual imposition is a felony. A conviction carries a minimum five years in prison and registration as a sex offender. Steinwand spent 40 years with game and fish. He retired as director in July of 2021. He headed the agency for about 15 years.