Summary — SB 2193 (Assistance Animals) — North Dakota (2025)
Status
- Introduced: March 11, 2025
- Sponsors: Senators Lee, Sickler; Representatives Jonas, Sanford, Schreiber-Beck (listed as introducers)
- Legislative outcome: Failed on second reading (yeas 12, nays 81). Bill did not become law.
Purpose
- To regulate documentation, certification, and sale/transfer practices related to “assistance animals” (distinct from federally defined “service animals”), by (1) tightening requirements for health care providers who issue documentation that a person needs an assistance animal, (2) requiring notice disclosures when animals or certification letters are sold/provided, and (3) creating penalties for misrepresentation and improper sales.
Key definitions (amendment to NDCC 25‑13‑01.1)
- Assistance animal: an animal, other than a service animal, that works, performs tasks, or provides therapeutic emotional support for an individual with a disability.
- Health care provider / Health care services: defined to align with licensed providers and services within their scope.
- Service animal: defined as a dog trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability.
- Therapeutic relationship: health care services rendered in good faith with actual knowledge of the person’s disability and need for an assistance animal; excludes businesses issuing certificates/letters without assessment.
Major provisions — health care provider documentation (new section)
- Providers may not produce documentation of need for an assistance animal unless they:
- Are actively licensed in the state;
- Are qualified/licensed to evaluate and diagnose disabilities and have performed a disability assessment;
- Have engaged the individual (in person or remotely) in at least two sessions before issuing documentation; and
- Performed a clinical evaluation no less than 30 days before producing the documentation.
- Required contents of documentation: effective date; provider license number; type of professional license; and evidence of a therapeutic relationship within 30 days prior to issuance.
- Prohibitions: providers may not falsely represent that an individual is disabled or needs an assistance animal; individuals may not falsely claim they have such a disability/need.
Major provisions — sale and certification disclosures (new section)
- Any person selling or providing an animal for use as an assistance animal, or providing a certificate/letter certifying an animal for that use, must give a written notice to the buyer/recipient stating:
- The animal does not have the special training required to qualify as a service animal; and
- The animal is not entitled to the legal rights and privileges of a service animal.
- The notice must be printed in bold, at least 12-point type.
Penalties
- Violation of the documentation or sale/notice provisions: infraction for a first offense; class B misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense.
Limitations / preservation of rights
- The bill explicitly states it does not modify or restrict federal or state laws that govern reasonable accommodation and access to housing (e.g., Fair Housing Act) or rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Who is affected
- Health care providers who evaluate or issue documentation for assistance animals.
- Businesses or individuals selling animals or issuing certificates/letters (including online “certification” vendors).
- Individuals seeking assistance animals (additional procedural hurdles for documentation).
- Housing providers, employers, and public entities may be indirectly affected by changes in documentation practices and the potential reduction of fraudulent claims.
Implications
- Aims to reduce “certification mills” and misrepresentations by requiring licensure, assessment, and minimum provider contact before issuance of documentation.
- Introduces consumer protection and disclosure requirements for sellers/certifiers of assistance animals.
- Would create criminal penalties for repeated noncompliance.
- Because the bill failed on second reading, these provisions are not in effect.
