# North Dakota

North Dakota’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board licenses peace officers and must act on a felony conviction. Since 2023 the State has limited a reserve officer’s license to the scope of the officer’s training, and has let the board order fitness-for-duty exams and act when a psychological or physical condition keeps an officer from serving safely. A board rule package that would raise continuing education to 75 hours every three years has not been adopted. No public list of revoked licenses is required.

Source: https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/north-dakota

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board: nine members, including the law enforcement training center director and six peace officers. The Attorney General appoints the other members, and the Attorney General’s office staffs the board. The board licenses peace officers, including part-time, reserve, limited, and tribal officers ([NDCC 12-63-01.1, 12-63-02 to 12-63-04](https://www.ndlegis.gov/cencode/t12c63.pdf)).
- **Statute:** [NDCC chapter 12-63](https://www.ndlegis.gov/cencode/t12c63.pdf) (Peace Officer Standards, Training, and Licensing). Rules: NDAC article 109-02 (Peace Officer Standards).
- **Minimum standards:** By statute: good moral character, a high school diploma or GED, an agency background investigation, board-approved medical and psychological examinations, a recognized training program, and a passed licensing exam. By rule: U.S. citizen or resident alien; no felony plea or finding; no conviction for moral turpitude, sex, domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or firearms offenses, or others the board finds bear on fitness; not barred from firearms; a valid U.S. driver’s license; fingerprint clearance from the state crime bureau and the FBI; employment or appointment by an agency; and access to crime-information databases. A limited license allows work in the employing jurisdiction until the holder completes the first available basic course and is issued a license (NDCC 12-63-06, 12-63-09; [NDAC 109-02-01-03](https://www.ndlegis.gov/information/acdata/pdf/109-02-01.pdf)).
- **Decertification:** The board “shall” deny, refuse to renew, suspend, revoke, or impose probation for a felony conviction or plea. It “may” do so for listed misdemeanors (domestic violence, child abuse, firearms, or offenses bearing on fitness), unjustified deadly force, false statements to the board, a disqualifying psychological or physical condition (added in 2025), or violation of the chapter or rules. Action follows a chapter 28-32 hearing, and reinstatement may be sought after one year. The board may order an ex parte temporary suspension for up to 60 days. Agencies must notify the board within 30 days of a hire, termination, or resignation, and must investigate and report felony arrests, listed offenses, and violations ([NDCC 12-63-12, 12-63-13, 12-63-15](https://www.ndlegis.gov/cencode/t12c63.pdf); NDAC 109-02-01-05, 109-02-02-18). The rule says applicants and licensees “must not” have the listed misdemeanor convictions, while the statute makes board action on them discretionary.
- **Public decertification list:** No statute or rule requires one. The board posts meeting minutes, including minutes of adverse-action meetings, but no list of revoked licenses was found ([POST meeting minutes](https://www.post.nd.gov/MeetingMinutes/index.html)).
- **National Decertification Index:** None found. NDCC chapter 12-63 and NDAC article 109-02 do not name the Index.
- **Continuing training:** Peace officers must complete 60 hours of certified training every three years, no more than 20 of them online. Reserve officers need 30 hours, no more than 10 online. Sidearm qualification is annual. Licenses expire after three years and renew on proof of continuing education; inactive status may be kept with continuing education (NDCC 12-63-11; [NDAC 109-02-02-15](https://www.ndlegis.gov/information/acdata/pdf/109-02-02.pdf)). A pending rule package would raise the requirement to 75 hours.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jul 1, 2025 — **Board may order fitness-for-duty exams; a psychological or physical condition becomes a licensing ground** — SB 2165 (2025), S.L. 2025 ch. 118, amending NDCC 12-63-04, 12-63-05, and 12-63-12 · Approved March 27, 2025; filed March 31, 2025; effective July 1, 2025 (the act sets fees, so NDCC 1-02-42(2) makes July 1 the effective date, as the Legislative Council’s effective-dates list shows) — With cause, and if it serves public safety, the board “may” require a licensed officer to undergo a physical or psychological exam by an evaluator it selects. It may review the officer’s medical and psychological records, which are exempt from the open-records law. A new ground lets the board deny, suspend, or revoke when an officer “has a psychological or physical condition” and is deemed unable to serve safely. On reinstatement, the board may require exams and “shall deny” an applicant who refuses to release records. The act adds fees for suspension, reinstatement, duplicate licenses, late sidearm qualification, and late instructor renewal. — **For officers:** The board can order you to a fitness-for-duty exam, and a condition that keeps you from serving safely can cost you your license. — [SB 2165 enrolled](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0693-02000.pdf)[Effective dates of 2025 legislation](https://ndlegis.gov/sites/default/files/resource/69-2025/effective-dates-legislation/25.9565.03000.pdf)
- Aug 1, 2023 — **Reserve officer license limited to the scope of training; board may fund training from fees** — HB 1203 (2023), S.L. 2023 ch. 121, amending NDCC 12-63-01 and 12-63-02.3 and adding a training-fund clause to 12-63-04 · Approved March 22, 2023; filed March 23, 2023; effective August 1, 2023 (the act has no date clause, so the general August 1 date applies) — A “reserve peace officer license” is now defined as a license to enforce the law “within the scope of the reserve peace officer’s training.” The act strikes the statement that a licensed reserve officer “has the same authority as a licensed peace officer.” The board may spend up to $50,000 a year from fees to sponsor training for licensees. — **For officers:** As a reserve officer, your authority is limited to what your training covers. — [HB 1203 enrolled](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/documents/23-0482-02000.pdf)[HB 1203 overview](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/bill-overview/bo1203.html)

## Not yet in force and pending

- **POST rule package (NDAC article 109-02):** would raise continuing education to 75 hours every three years, with up to 50 online and 6 hours mandated by POST, and add fee enforcement. The board approved the changes February 18, 2026; the April 2026 public hearing drew no oral comments; the next step is review by the Attorney General. The board’s minutes state a target effective date of January 1, 2027. It has not appeared on an Administrative Rules Committee agenda through September 2026. [Minutes, May 13, 2026](https://www.post.nd.gov/MeetingMinutes/May%2013,%202026%20Regular%20Meeting.pdf)
- **POST proposals for the 2027 session:** repeal the part-time license (12-63-02.1); change “shall” to “may” in 12-63-10; allow online training for inactive status (12-63-11); clarify 12-63-12; seek $400,000 per biennium for training in a special fund; lengthen board term limits (12-63-01.1); allow service by website instead of newspaper (12-63-13); and move approval of the correctional basic course (12-44.1-04(4)) to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The committee’s list was reviewed at the board’s September 21, 2026 special meeting, where the chairman noted no objections; no vote was recorded. No bill has been drafted or introduced. [Minutes, August 20, 2026](https://www.post.nd.gov/MeetingMinutes/August%2020,%202026%20Special%20Meeting.pdf)

These bills were not enacted: HB 1537 (2023, bias-crime training; failed in the House), HB 1585 (2025, peace officers to report undocumented immigrants; failed in the House), and SB 2220 (2025, human trafficking training; failed in the Senate). North Dakota publishes no administrative register; the rule package is documented only in board minutes.

## Checked and unchanged

- NDCC 12-63-06, 12-63-11, 12-63-13, 12-63-15, and 12-63-16: not amended in 2023 or 2025. The session-law tables list only 12-63-01, 12-63-02.3, and 12-63-04 in 2023, and 12-63-04, 12-63-05, and 12-63-12 in 2025.
- NDAC article 109-02: every chapter history note ends April 1, 2022, and no POST rule appears in Administrative Code Supplements 387 (January 2023) through 401 (October 2026).
- No 2023 to 2026 statute or rule on duty to intervene, Brady or Giglio disclosures, access to officer misconduct records, or officer masks or identification was found.
- Not counted: HB 1226 (2025) amended the civilian mask crimes in NDCC 12.1-31-15, and HB 1262 (2023) broadened the open-records exemption for body-camera images of private places. Neither concerns officer licensing.