The state Supreme Court decided Friday to keep two district judgeships in Fargo and Grand Forks, rebuffing a request to transfer the Grand Forks job to southeastern North Dakota.

The incumbent judges, Bruce Bohlman, of Grand Forks, and Fargo's Michael McGuire, are retiring from the bench when their terms end in December 2004. The high court's decision clears the way for voters to pick successors to both judges in next year's elections.

When a judicial vacancy looms, the Supreme Court reviews the position to decide whether it should be kept in its current location, or transferred elsewhere to even out the workload among North Dakota's seven judicial districts.

The justices did not consider moving the Fargo job, which serves North Dakota's most populous area. It is within the East Central judicial district, which includes Cass, Steele and Traill counties. The district has eight of North Dakota's 42 district judges.

However, John Paulson, the chief administrative judge of the Southeast district, asked that the Grand Forks position be transferred to his home region.

The Southeast district has six judges and covers 11 counties. It includes the cities of Wahpeton, Jamestown and Valley City, where Paulson is based. Bohlman works in the Northeast Central district, which has five judges and serves Grand Forks and Nelson counties.

A recent analysis of judicial workloads in the seven districts concluded the Northeast Central district has one more judge than it needs, while the Southeast district is one short.

However, the workload study "contains some subjective valuations, and is not a precise mathematical measurement of the need for judicial services in the districts," says the Supreme Court's decision, which was signed by all five justices.

"The differences indicated in population trends and the weighted caseload study alone do not rise to the level that would, at this time, necessitate the transfer" of Bohlman's job, the court's ruling said.