Obert C. Teigen

Who was Obert C. Teigen?

Obert C. Teigen was the Chief Justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court from 1965 to 1966 and from 1967 to 1971. He left the court in 1974 after 15 years on the bench since assuming office on January 13, 1959.

Justice Obert C. Teigen was born near Tolna, North Dakota on September 27, 1908. He graduated from Edmore High School in 1927, and then attended the University of North Dakota and received a bachelor of science degree in 1931 and a law degree in 1934. He was admitted to the North Dakota Bar in 1934, and later spent a two-year period as a special agent for the FBI. He practiced law in Devils Lake, North Dakota until 1954. He also served as Ramsey County State's Attorney from 1937 to 1943 and from 1945 to 1946. He assumed the position of District Judge for the Second Judicial District in 1954 and served in that capacity until he was appointed to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Gudmunder Grimson. He assumed office on January 13, 1959, at age 50. He was elected to a ten-year term in 1960 and reelected in 1970. He resigned in July 1974 after 15 years and six months on the bench. Following his retirement from the Court, Justice Teigen accepted an appointment as an Administrative Judge with the Social Security Administration in 1975, but he developed a terminal illness in the late 1970s which forced his resignation from that administration in February 1978. He died on May 26, 1978, at age 69.