§ 23-11-11 — Powers of authority

An authority has the following powers and duties:
1. To exercise public and essential governmental functions.
2. To sue and be sued.
3. To have perpetual succession.
4. To make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the
exercise of the powers of the authority.
5. To make, amend, and repeal such bylaws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent with
this chapter, as are necessary to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the
authority.
6. To prepare, carry out, acquire, lease, and operate housing projects within its area of
operation.
7. To provide for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, alteration, or repair of
any housing project, or any part of a housing project, within the authority's area of
operation.
8. To arrange or contract for the furnishing by any person or any public or private agency
of services, privileges, works, or facilities for, or in connection with, a housing project
or the occupants of a housing project.
9. To include, in any contract let in connection with a project, stipulations requiring that
the contractor and any subcontractor comply with requirements as to minimum wages
and maximum hours of labor and any conditions that the federal government may
have attached to the financial aid for the project.
10. To lease or rent any dwellings, houses, accommodations, lands, buildings, structures,
or facilities embraced in any housing project and, subject to the limitations contained in
this chapter, to establish and revise the rents or charges in the housing project.
11. To own, hold, and improve property.
12. To purchase, lease, obtain options upon, or acquire, by gift, grant, bequest, devise, or
otherwise, any property or any interest in property.
13. Subject to chapter 32-15, to acquire real property by the exercise of the power of
eminent domain.
14. To sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or dispose of any property, or any
interest in property.
15. To insure, or provide for the insurance of, any property, or any operation of the
authority, against any risks or hazards.
16. To procure insurance or guaranties from the federal government of the payment of any
debts, or parts of debts, secured by mortgages on any property included in any of the
authority's housing projects, whether the debts were incurred by the authority or not.
17. To invest any funds held by the authority in reserves or sinking funds, or any funds not
required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which savings banks
may legally invest funds subject to a savings bank's control.
18. To purchase its bonds at a price not more than the principal amount of the bonds and
accrued interest, a bond so purchased is canceled.

19. To investigate, in the authority's area of operation, living, dwelling, and housing
conditions and the means and methods of improving the same.
20. To determine, within the authority's area of operation, where slum areas exist or where
there is a shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons
of low or moderate income.
21. To make studies and recommendations relating to the problem of clearing, replanning,
and reconstructing the slum areas within the authority's area of operation and the
problem of providing dwelling accommodations for the persons of low or moderate
income, and to cooperate with the city, county, or state, or any political subdivision in
any action taken in connection with these problems.
22. To engage in research, studies, and experimentation on the subject of housing within
the authority's area of operation.
23. To conduct examinations and investigations and to hear testimony and take proof
under oath at public or private hearings on any matter material for the authority's
information.
24. To administer oaths, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses or the
production of books and papers, and to issue commissions for the examinations of
witnesses who are outside of the state or unable to attend before the authority or who
are excused from attendance.
25. To make available to appropriate agencies, including those charged with the duty of
abating or requiring the correction of nuisances or like conditions, or of demolishing
unsafe or unsanitary structures within the authority's area of operation, the authority's
findings and recommendations with regard to any building or property where
conditions exist which are dangerous to the public health, morals, safety, or welfare.
26. To issue bonds from time to time for any of its corporate purposes.
27. To issue refunding bonds for the purpose of paying or retiring bonds previously issued
by the authority.
28. To borrow money or accept grants or other financial assistance from the federal
government for, or in aid of, any housing project within the authority's area of
operation.
29. To take over or lease or manage any housing project or undertaking constructed or
owned by the federal government.
30. To comply with conditions and to enter into mortgages, trust indentures, leases, or
agreements as may be necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out this section.
31. To do any and all things necessary or desirable to secure the financial aid or
cooperation of the federal government in the undertaking, construction, maintenance,
or operation of any housing project.
32. To exercise all or any part or combination of powers granted.
33. To exercise within the authority's area of operation the authority granted to the
industrial commission under section 54-17-07.6.
34. To exercise the power to provide operation and maintenance expenses under
subdivision a of subsection 23 of section 23-11-24.
35. To exercise the power to pledge the general obligation of the city or county for which
the housing authority is created in accordance with subsection 23 of section 23-11-24.
36. To develop a plan identifying the public purposes of the authority's ownership,
conditions that would make the authority's ownership no longer necessary for
accomplishing those public purposes, and a plan to divest the authority's ownership
interest as soon as economically prudent once those conditions occur and to
effectuate the plan.
37. To exercise other powers and duties as may be necessary to carry out the purposes
and provisions of this chapter.
An authority, in exercising the powers specified in subsections 23, 24, and 25, may act through
one or more of the commissioners or through other persons designated by the authority.
Provisions of law with respect to the acquisition, operation, or disposition of property by other
public bodies are not applicable to an authority unless there is specific provision to that effect by

the legislative assembly. The construction of a housing project is a public improvement for which
an authority is subject to the requirements of chapter 48-01.2.