A former employee of the Bismarck Transition Center has pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse of a ward.

Holly Engesser, 33, entered the not guilty plea to South Central District Judge Tom Schneider at the Burleigh County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon.

Engesser, who worked at the facility from August 2002 to January 2007, has been accused of engaging in sexual activity with an inmate of the Bismarck Transition Center between Dec. 28, 2006, and Jan. 14, according to court documents.

The Bismarck Transition Center, a 155-bed facility at 2001 Lee Ave., works to ease selected male prisoners back into the community.

Schneider asked Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Julie Lawyer if Engesser will be required to register as a sex offender if she is convicted or pleads guilty to the charge. Registration requirements typically are listed in court documents as a minimum mandatory sentence, but the information filed against Engesser Wednesday did not contain such a provision.

Lawyer said she does not know if the charge carries a mandatory registration requirement. She said Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Cynthia Feland, who is on vacation, is the prosecutor on the case.

According to the North Dakota attorney general's sex offender Web site, www.sexoffender.nd.gov, sexual abuse of wards is an offense that carries a registration requirement upon conviction.

Lawyer said her office will clear up the issue.

Engesser, who was charged with the offense in April following an investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, remains free on her promise to appear.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)