N.D. Cent. Code § 24-05-09
The board of county commissioners of any county of the state, by resolution or order, as part of the cost of constructing, reconstructing, widening, altering, changing, locating, relocating, aligning, realigning, or maintaining, any highway in said county, may purchase, acquire, take over, or, subject to section 32-15-01, condemn, under the right and power of eminent domain, for such county, any and all lands which it deems necessary for the present use, either temporary or permanent, and to provide adequate drainage in the improvement, constructing, reconstructing, widening, altering, changing, locating, relocating, aligning, realigning, or maintaining of any highways in said county, and by the same means it may acquire said lands notwithstanding the fact that the title thereto is vested in the state or any of its subdivisions.
Whenever the board of county commissioners determines, by resolution or order, that the public necessity requires the taking of land as aforesaid, it shall cause said lands to be surveyed and described and a plat thereof prepared and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county wherein the same is located. The board of county commissioners, or its duly authorized agents and employees, may enter upon any land for the purpose of making such survey, examination, or test, but in case of damages to the premises the board of county commissioners forthwith shall pay to the owner of said premises the amount of such damages.
N.D.C.C. § 24-05-09