Summary — SB 2184 (North Dakota): Additional parenting time after a false allegation of harm to a child
Status and procedural history
- Bill: SB 2184 — amends and reenacts section 14-09-06.5, North Dakota Century Code.
- Introduced: March 10, 2025 (prepared by Legislative Council staff for Sen. Paulson; introduced by Senators Clemens and Boehm and Representatives K. Anderson, Frelich, D. Ruby in sponsor/authoring roles shown in the bill document).
- Floor action: Second reading — failed to pass (yeas 18, nays 26). Several draft versions/engrossments were prepared during consideration.
Purpose and intent
- To create statutory consequences and a remedial mechanism when one parent makes a false allegation of harm to a child against the other parent, and to require courts to restore parenting time lost because of investigations that find no harm.
Key provisions (what the bill would change)
- Amends NDCC § 14-09-06.5 (Allegation of harm to child — effect).
- Attorney fees and costs: If the court finds an allegation of child harm by one parent against the other is false and not made in good faith, the court must order the alleging parent to pay court costs and the other parent’s reasonable attorney fees incurred in responding to the allegation.
- Additional parenting time:
- If the court finds the allegation false and not made in good faith, the court shall order additional parenting time to compensate the parent who was responding to the false allegation for any court-ordered parenting time denied due to an investigation that did not result in a finding of harm, abuse, or neglect.
- The presumption is mandatory unless the opposing party shows by clear and convincing evidence that additional parenting time should not be ordered — a heightened evidentiary standard.
- The additional time must: be of the same type and duration as the parenting time that was denied; may include weekends, holidays, and summer time; and must occur within two years of the court’s finding that the allegation was false and not made in good faith.
- Courts must give deference to the additional time schedule proposed by the parent entitled to the time when setting the make‑up schedule (subject to the statutory limits above).
Who would be affected
- Parents and children involved in custody/parenting-time disputes in North Dakota family courts.
- The parent who is falsely accused (would be eligible for fees and make-up parenting time).
- The parent who makes a false allegation (would be liable for fees and required to provide make-up parenting time).
- State agencies that investigate allegations (explicitly references the Department of Health and Human Services and similar agencies in other states as the investigative actors whose unsubstantiated investigations can trigger remedial time).
Timing and procedural detail
- Make-up parenting time must occur within two years of the court’s finding that the allegation was false and not made in good faith.
- The bill raises the bar for a parent opposing make-up time: they must overcome the presumption by clear and convincing evidence.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Intended to deter bad‑faith or false allegations and to make whole parents whose court‑ordered time was lost due to unsubstantiated investigations.
- Raises concerns (commonly discussed in analysis of similar laws) about possible chilling effects on legitimate reports of child harm; however, the “false and not made in good faith” finding plus the clear‑and‑convincing standard to avoid make-up time are designed to target wrongful conduct.
- Because the bill failed its second reading (yeas 18, nays 26), its provisions did not become law.
