The trial of the Minot woman charged with the 2007 murder of Anita Knutson has been reset to January in Grand Forks County following an order granting a change of venue.

The notice of the change of the trial date and location for Nichole Erin Rice, 36, was filed on Thursday based on court records, having previously been scheduled for a three-week trial to begin on July 15. Court records now indicate that Rice’s trial will start on Monday, Jan. 6, and run three weeks in Grand Forks.

District Court Judge Richard Hagar signed off on the change of venue on June 7 following the filing of a joint stipulation by Rice’s defense team and prosecutors after it was found the pool of potential jurors in Ward County showed a great deal of prejudice toward Rice in their responses to a questionnaire.

These responses were explored at a hearing at the end of May where both parties determined from their respective analysis that a vast majority of the respondents were aware of many facts surrounding the cold case of Knutson’s murder from local and national media coverage.

The parties also found that some prospective jurors even expressed they had already formed opinions regarding Rice’s innocence or guilt, making it unlikely an impartial jury would be able to be empaneled in Ward County.

Another issue introduced supporting rescheduling the hearing even if a change of venue hadn’t been granted was the granting of a speedy trial request in another murder case in which Deputy State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen is also the lead prosecutor.

Rice’s next court date is a status conference on July 15 at the Ward County Courthouse.