HB 1194 — Summary (North Dakota, 69th Legislative Assembly)
Status & timeline
- Introduced: November 12, 2024.
- Judiciary Committee (House) adopted a committee report (Feb 3, 2025).
- Senate Judiciary adopted an amendment (Apr 1, 2025).
- Passed both chambers (House and Senate votes recorded on enrolled copy).
- Filed with Secretary of State: April 16, 2025 (status shown as filed with Secretary of State).
Purpose
- To revise North Dakota Century Code § 12.1‑11‑03 to clarify and update the criminal offense for giving false information or reports to law enforcement or security officials, to specify who must report suspected violations, and to preserve a criminal penalty.
Key provisions
- Criminal offense retained and clarified:
- An individual is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if the person:
1. Gives false information or a false report to a law enforcement officer that the individual knows is false, and the information may interfere with an investigation or materially mislead an officer; or
2. Falsely reports to a law enforcement officer or other security official the occurrence of a crime of violence or other incident calling for emergency response when the individual knows the incident did not occur.
- “Security official” is defined in the statute as a public servant responsible for averting or dealing with emergencies involving public safety.
- Duty to report by on‑duty officers (amended language):
- An on‑duty law enforcement officer who has probable cause to suspect that an individual has vexatiously provided a false report regarding another individual to a law enforcement officer or security official must report that information to the county state's attorney where the violation occurred.
- The Senate amendment’s insertion of the term “vexatiously” and the phrase “regarding another individual” narrows the officer reporting duty to suspected intentionally harassing/abusive false reports about other persons.
Penalty
- Violation is a class A misdemeanor under other statutory sentencing provisions (the bill itself does not change the classification or prescribe a new sentence amount).
Who is affected
- Individuals who knowingly give false information to police or knowingly report fabricated violent incidents/emergencies (potential criminal exposure).
- On‑duty law enforcement officers (new statutory duty to report probable‑cause suspicions of vexatious false reports to the county state's attorney).
- County state's attorneys, who may receive more referrals and decide whether to prosecute.
- “Security officials” and agencies involved in emergency responses may see reduced false call burdens if enforced.
Practical/administrative notes and potential impacts
- Narrowing language (e.g., “vexatiously,” “regarding another individual,” and “probable cause”) may limit prosecutions to intentional/harassing false reporting rather than accidental or mistaken reports.
- The reporting requirement delegates gatekeeping responsibility to on‑duty officers and could increase referrals to county prosecutors; may require training or guidance for law enforcement about the statute’s evidentiary threshold (probable cause and vexatious intent).
- No appropriation or fiscal analysis is contained in the bill text; any administrative workload (officer reports, prosecutions) would be handled within existing criminal justice budgets unless volumes increase materially.
Primary sponsors (per enrolled document)
- Representatives/authors listed on enrolled copy include Representatives Vetter, Christianson, Murphy, Dockter, Hauck, D. Johnston, Koppelman, Jonas, Motschenbacher and Senators Paulson, Luick. (Sponsorship listings may vary across versions.)
Notes
- The bill amends existing criminal-law language and does not create civil remedies or change definitions beyond those specified. Readers should consult the enrolled/official statute text for final wording and check the effective date once the Secretary of State posts the enacted law.
