A gathering of North Dakota judges violated the state's open meetings law because its specific location was kept quiet, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says.

Stenehjem himself is a member of the North Dakota Judicial Conference, which includes the state's Supreme Court justices and clerk, district and local judges and the dean of the University of North Dakota's law school.

A public notice of the conference's meeting last November said it was in Bismarck but did not give the address because of what organizers described as security concerns.

Roland Riemers, of Emerado, asked for Stenehjem's interpretation of whether the notice met the requirements of North Dakota's open meetings law. Stenehjem issued a legal opinion Thursday, saying the conference's location at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Bismarck should have been made public.

Riemers frequently represents himself in lawsuits, and has sued at least three North Dakota district judges. He found where the conference was being held and showed up to picket, wearing a Grim Reaper costume.

The Judicial Conference was established by the Legislature in 1927. Stenehjem said in an interview that he was sympathetic to the judges' security worries, but added that the Legislature has not exempted the conference from North Dakota's open meetings law.

"I can see why they would be concerned about it," Stenehjem said. "The extent of how concerned they ought to be is one that I think needs to be addressed by the Legislature."