Summary — North Dakota HB 1047 (2025): Juror Counseling Following Graphic Evidence or Testimony
Status & Sponsor
- Title: An Act to create and enact a new section to chapter 29‑22 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to juror counseling.
- Introduced by: Judiciary Committee (at the request of the Supreme Court).
- Status: Passed both chambers (House vote: 80–11; Senate vote: 32–13) and filed with the Secretary of State (03/18/2025).
Purpose
- To require courts to offer short-term, no‑cost psychological counseling to jurors and alternate jurors who served on trials that involved extraordinarily graphic, gruesome, or emotionally traumatic evidence or testimony.
Key Provisions
- Mandatory Offer: The court shall offer up to ten (10) hours of post‑trial psychological counseling, without charge, to any juror or alternate juror who served on such a trial.
- Covered Cases: The offer applies only when the trial involved one or more of the following categories (or others as the court determines):
- Murder (NDCC § 12.1‑16‑01)
- Manslaughter (NDCC § 12.1‑16‑02)
- Negligent homicide (NDCC § 12.1‑16‑03)
- Felony‑level assault or domestic violence (chapter 12.1‑17)
- Sexual offenses (chapters 12.1‑20 or 12.1‑27.2)
- Child abuse or neglect (NDCC §§ 14‑09‑22, 14‑09‑22.1)
- Other offenses deemed appropriate by the court
- Timing: Counseling must be offered and provided no later than 180 days after the jury is discharged.
- Delivery Options: Counseling may be provided by the court system, a state agency, or via contract with outside providers; services may be delivered individually or in group settings.
- Cost: Counseling is provided without charge to the juror or alternate juror.
Who Is Affected
- Primary beneficiaries: Jurors and alternate jurors in North Dakota who served on qualifying trials.
- Administrative impact: State courts (administration and budgeting), potential state agencies, and contracted mental‑health providers who may be engaged to deliver services.
Practical and Policy Considerations
- Judicial discretion: The court determines whether a trial’s evidence or testimony is sufficiently “extraordinarily graphic, gruesome, or emotional,” and may expand the list of qualifying offenses as appropriate.
- Implementation: Courts will need procedures for offering counseling, tracking offers and uptake, and contracting providers or coordinating with state agencies — potentially creating modest administrative and fiscal responsibilities (the bill itself does not specify funding).
- Expected benefits: Addresses juror trauma, may improve juror well‑being and retention, and supports fair participation in the justice system.
Effective Date
- The bill creates a new section in NDCC ch. 29‑22; procedural records indicate filing with the Secretary of State on 03/18/2025. (No separate delayed effective date is specified in the text provided.)
