A witness in a civil or criminal case is entitled to receive:
In all criminal cases in district court, the attorney general shall pay prosecution witness fees and expenses, in an amount not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per county per biennium, and the commission on legal counsel for indigents shall pay witness fees and expenses for witnesses in those cases in which counsel has been provided by the commission. Prisoners may not be compensated as witnesses under this section.
N.D.C.C. § 31-01-16