Counties and county officers; general powers; commissioners; ambulance districts; effective date.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Justin Humphrey

Licensed ambulance services that are county/city owned, joint powers, tribal/federal, hospital-operated, or already in rural districts are exempt from forming rural ambulance servi

Second Reading referred to Rules

Summary — HB 1339 (North Dakota): Licensed ambulance services exempt from rural ambulance service district formation

Status & key dates
- Bill number: HB 1339
- Subject: Amend subsection 2 of NDCC § 23-27-07 (licensed ambulance services exempt from formation of rural ambulance service district requirements)
- Introduced: November 14, 2024 (per provided bill information)
- Legislative status (provided): Second reading — failed to pass (yeas 35, nays 52)

Purpose and intent
- The bill’s explicit purpose is to clarify and enumerate which licensed ambulance services are not subject to the statutory requirement (or process) to form a rural ambulance service district. In short: to exempt specified classes of licensed ambulance providers from being required to be organized as rural ambulance service districts.

What the bill would change (key provisions)
- Amends and reenacts subsection 2 of NDCC § 23-27-07 to list the licensed ambulance services that are exempt from the section (i.e., from rural ambulance service district formation requirements). The exemptions are enumerated as:
a. Licensed ambulance services that are county owned.
b. Licensed ambulance services that are city owned.
c. Licensed ambulance services that are part of a joint powers agreement with a city or county-owned ambulance.
d. Licensed ambulance services owned by tribal or federal government.
e. Licensed ambulance services owned and operated by a hospital.
f. Existing rural ambulance service districts organized under chapter 11-28.3.

Who and what would be affected
- Directly affected: licensed ambulance services in North Dakota (public and certain non‑public providers) — specifically county- or city-owned services, hospital-operated services, tribal/federal services, joint powers arrangements involving municipal or county ambulances, and rural ambulance districts already organized under chapter 11‑28.3.
- Indirectly affected: counties, cities, hospitals, tribal governments, emergency medical service (EMS) governance bodies, and residents in rural areas who rely on ambulance services. The change clarifies governance/status for these providers and could influence local decisions about consolidation, district formation, administration, and funding.

Potential impacts and considerations
- Legal/administrative clarity: By enumerating exempt categories, the bill reduces ambiguity about which providers must or must not adopt rural ambulance service district organization.
- Preservation of existing structures: The bill expressly preserves city/county/hospital/tribal/federal and joint‑powers ambulance models and pre‑existing rural ambulance districts.
- Local governance and finance: The exemption could limit the state or local push to reorganize certain providers into rural districts, potentially affecting how services are funded, taxed, or governed. No fiscal or effective‑date language is included in the provided text; no fiscal analysis was included in the materials provided.

Procedural note
- According to the information given at the top of this request, the bill did not pass on second reading (yeas 35, nays 52). No effective date or additional implementation details were included in the provided ND bill text.