Rep. Jared Hagert, R-Emerado, speaks with a colleague on the House floor on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
By: Michael Achterling
EMERADO, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – State Rep. Jared Hagert, R-Emerado, resigned from the North Dakota Legislature Monday to take a job in the federal government, according to his resignation letter.
The Red River Farm Network reported Hagert is expected to be named to a post within the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency. Hagert said in the letter the post is in Washington, D.C., but he declined to discuss specifics Monday until the agency announces the position.
“It’s a great opportunity to serve the farm community and give another voice that has been there, on the farm, and in the Upper Midwest and bring that perspective to the USDA,” Hagert said in an interview.
Hagert, a farmer and owner of Integrated Ag Services, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2020. He has served as vice chair of the Legislature’s Finance and Taxation Committee since 2023 and led interim committees in 2023 and 2025. In 2018, he represented North Dakota on the Farm Service Agency State Committee.
“I’m going to miss interacting with my colleagues in the Legislature and working with them,” he said.
Representatives of the USDA Farm Service Agency did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
During the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions, Hagert co-sponsored legislation that established and expanded a property tax credit for homeowners. In 2025, he was chief sponsor of House Bill 1332 that allows the North Dakota Department of Agriculture to issue grants for value-added agriculture facilities.
Sen. Randy Lemm, R-Hillsboro, said Hagert was “our go-to guy for tax policy.”
“I hate to see him go, but you don’t get an opportunity like this very often,” he said.
Lemm said Hagert will be an important voice for the state’s farmers in Washington, D.C.
Hagert’s term expires in 2028. The District 20 legislative seat will be on the November ballot to determine who serves the remainder of the term, said Erika White, election director for North Dakota. The filing deadline for the general election is Aug. 31.
It will be up to the NDGOP District 20 committee to appoint someone to fill Hagert’s seat through November. The district has 21 days to make the appointment once it receives official notification of the vacancy.
District 20 encompasses parts of western Grand Forks County, Traill County and part of Walsh County.
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