Agriculture; weights and standards; references; certification; effective date.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Kenton Patzkowsky and 1 co-sponsor

ND HB 1542 exempts admissions applications to state higher-ed from public disclosure; allows destruction on request by applicant or parent; effective immediately.

Becomes law without Governor's signature 05/07/2025

Purpose

HB 1542 adds a new exemption to North Dakota’s public records law (chapter 44‑04 of the North Dakota Century Code) by designating admissions application records submitted to institutions of higher education under the State Board of Higher Education as exempt from public access. The bill also provides for destruction of those records on request and takes effect immediately as an emergency measure.

Key provisions

Creates a new section in NDCC chapter 44‑04 stating that:

A record related to an individual's application for admission to a state‑administered institution of higher education is exempt (i.e., not subject to public inspection/disclosure), except as otherwise provided by law.
Subject to statutory retention requirements under NDCC § 15‑10‑44, the admissions application record must be destroyed upon request of:
the applicant, or
the parent or guardian of an applicant who was under 18 at the time of submission.
Individuals may not access or disclose an exempt admissions record except as necessary to perform regular duties as an employee of the institution of higher education, except where other provisions of law allow disclosure.

Declares the Act an emergency measure, making it effective immediately upon gubernatorial approval.

Who is affected

Applicants to North Dakota public institutions of higher education (and parents/guardians of minor applicants) — gain the ability to request destruction of their application records (subject to retention rules).

State Board of Higher Education institutions and their employees — receive a statutory confidentiality designation for admissions files and limitations on access/disclosure outside official duties.

Public records requesters (media, researchers, third parties) — will generally be denied access to admissions applications that fall under this exemption.

Custodians of records must still comply with retention obligations specified in NDCC § 15‑10‑44 before destruction.

Procedural / timeline notes

Introduced: Dec 9, 2024 (sponsors: Representatives Hendrix, Heilman, Heinert, Marschall, Murphy, Novak, Schreiber‑Beck; Senators Cory, Wobbema).

Passed both chambers with emergency clause carried; enrolled and sent to governor in April 2025.

Signed by Governor and filed with Secretary of State on April 23, 2025 — effective immediately due to emergency clause.

Practical considerations

The exemption narrows public access to individual admissions applications but does not repeal other statutory disclosure exceptions or obligations.

The destruction-on-request clause is conditioned on existing records‑retention law; institutions must reconcile destruction requests with any legal retention periods or obligations (e.g., audits, investigations, litigation holds).

The change may affect institutional recordkeeping practices, FOIA/public‑records responses, and researchers relying on application‑level data.

Bill