OnstadKentonBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Gov. Jack Dalrymple is defending his decision to pay nearly $100,000 as retention bonuses to five members of his staff.
 
     Dalrymple announced in August that he won’t seek re-election in 2016. He tells The Associated Press that the bonuses were paid to keep key people in his administration “who are important to the process in governing the state of North Dakota.”
 
     Democrats are questioning the bonuses, which were first reported by KFGO-AM radio on Monday after an open records request.
 
     Democratic House Minority Leader Kenton Onstad says the bonuses to the governor’s staff “just doesn’t smell right.”
 
     Onstad says the state’s program of paying recruiting and retention bonuses is important for hard-to-fill jobs in the state’s oil patch. But he questions if that’s the case in the governor’s office.