Using a telephone with a "Do Not Disturb" sign, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on Tuesday asked members of a committee he once headed to support new restrictions on telemarketing.

"North Dakotans want the option available in several other states," Stenehjem said. "They want to subscribe to a list that telemarketers are required to avoid when making their calls."

Stenehjem helped to draft a bill, referred to as "do not call" legislation, that would allow his office to create a no-call list. Telemarketers who call phone numbers on the list could face a $2,000 fine.

The measure exempts charitable nonprofit organizations if their own employees or volunteers did the calling. However, if they hired an outside telemarketing firm to do the phone work, the do-not-call bill's restrictions would apply.

The legislation restricts the use of recorded messages, bans calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. and requires telemarketers to say their name and where they are calling from at the beginning of the call.

"This is the time to give North Dakota families a peaceful dinner hour," said Sen. Jack Traynor, R-Devils Lake, the bill's sponsor.

Traynor is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held its first hearing on the bill Tuesday. He became the committee's chairman after Stenehjem, who formerly held the job, left his Grand Forks state Senate seat to make a successful run for attorney general.

Rep. Kathy Hawken, R-Fargo, said telemarketers often take advantage of the state's elderly.

"What can you do to stop the harassing calls to my 85-year-old mother?" Hawken asked. "She is spending hundreds of dollars on sweepstakes and mail order purchases for worthless merchandise or services because she is home alone and her phone rings constantly."

The bill, Hawken said, will protect "vulnerable seniors from scam artists and fraud."

Michael Geiermann, an attorney and spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, said the bill would hamper the organization's fund-raising ability because it hires telemarketers to raise money.

"You need to understand this will affect good charities," Geiermann said. "We would basically be out of the funding business. We simply wouldn't have time to do this on our own."

Parrell Grossman, consumer protection director in the attorney general's office, said while there are many reputable charities that rely on telemarketing, some are deceiving.

"Questionable professional fund-raisers and charities, located primarily out-of-state, frequently take advantage of generous North Dakota citizens," Grossman said.

He said about 25 other states have already passed similar legislation. Since Minnesota offered a no-call list in November, Grossman said more than 1 million people have signed up. According to 2000 census data, Minnesota has 1.9 million households.

Brenda Dissette, director of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations, said it's hard to find volunteers and employees in rural North Dakota.

Dissette said if a nonprofit organization is registered in the state, but still hires telemarketers, it should be exempt from the no-call legislation. North Dakota would be the first state to limit charitable organizations from seeking donations, she said.

Sen. Stan Lyson, R-Williston, said many people will join the no-call list because they don't want to bothered by solicitors or charitable organizations.

"Don't I have the right to tell you not to call me?" Lyson asked.

The bill is SB2255.