NORTH DAKOTA
MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS
MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS
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Professionals required to report
Citation: Cent. Code §§ 50-25.1-03; 25-01-01
The following professionals are required to report:
• Dentists, dental hygienists, optometrists, medical examiners or coroners, or any other medical or mental health professionals
• Tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, or tier 4 mental health professionals, as defined under § 25-01-01
• Religious practitioners of the healing arts
• Schoolteachers, administrators, or school counselors
• Child care workers or foster parents
• Police or law enforcement officers, juvenile court personnel, probation officers, or division of juvenile services employees
• Licensed social workers, family services specialists, or child care licensors
• Members of the clergy
Mental health professionals are classified as follows:
• Tier 1 mental health professionals include licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, or physician assistants, and
advanced practice registered nurses.
• Tier 2 mental health professionals include licensed independent clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors,
marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors, and registered nurses.
• Tier 3 mental health professionals include licensed associate professional counselors, master social workers, baccalaureate
social workers, professional counselors, associate marriage and family therapists, occupational therapists, practical nurses,
behavior analysts, vocational rehabilitation counselors, school psychologists, and human relations counselors.
• Tier 4 mental health professionals include direct care associates or technicians.
Other persons required to report
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-03
Any other person who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused or neglected may report.
Institutional responsibility to report
Citation: Cent. Code §§ 50-25.1-04; 50-25.1-09.1
Reports involving known or suspected institutional child abuse or neglect must be made and received in the same manner as all
other reports made under this chapter.
An employer is prohibited from retaliating against an employee solely because the employee in good faith reported having
reasonable cause to suspect that a child was abused or neglected or died as a result of abuse or neglect or because the employee is a child with respect to whom a report was made. There is a rebuttable presumption that any adverse action within 90 days of a report is retaliatory. For purposes of this subsection, an ‘adverse action’ is action taken by an employer against the person making the report or the child with respect to whom a report was made, including any of the following:
• Discharge, suspension, termination, or transfer from any facility, institution, school, agency, or other place of employment
• Discharge from or termination of employment
• Demotion or reduction in remuneration for services
• Restriction or prohibition of access to any facility, institution, school, agency, or other place of employment or persons
affiliated with it
WHAT ARE THEY REQUIRED TO REPORT
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-03
A report is required when a reporter has knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused or neglected, if the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information received by that person in that person’s official or professional capacity.
A person who has knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused or neglected based on images of sexual conduct by a child discovered on a workplace computer shall report the circumstances to the department.
PENALTIES FOR FAILING TO REPORT
Citation: Cent. Code §§ 50-25.1-13; 50-25.1-09.1
Any person required by this chapter to report or to supply information concerning a case of known or suspected child abuse, neglect, or death resulting from abuse or neglect who willfully fails to do so is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
An employer who retaliates against an employee solely because the employee in good faith reported having reasonable cause to suspect that a child was abused or neglected, died as a result of abuse or neglect, or because the employee is a child with respect to whom a report was made, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor. It is a defense to any charge brought under this section that the presumption of good faith, described in § 50-25.1-09, has been rebutted.
The employer of a person required or permitted to report pursuant to § 50-25.1-03 who retaliates against the person because of a report of abuse or neglect, or a report of a death resulting from child abuse or neglect, is liable to that person in a civil action for all damages, including exemplary damages, costs of the litigation, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
PENALTIES FOR FALSE REPORTING
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-13
Any person who willfully makes a false report or provides false information that causes a report to be made is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, unless the false report is made to a law enforcement official, in which case the person who causes the report to be made is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
A person who willfully makes a false report or willfully provides false information that causes a report to be made also is liable in a civil action for all damages suffered by the person reported, including exemplary damages.
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS
Citation: Cent. Code §§ 50-25.1-03; 50-25.1-10
A member of the clergy is not required to report such circumstances if the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information received in the capacity of spiritual adviser.
Any privilege of communication between husband and wife or between any professional person and the person’s patient or client, except between attorney and client, cannot be used as grounds for failing to report.
REPORTER’S IDENTITY
The reporter is not specifically required by statute to provide his or her name in the report.
Disclosure of Reporter Identity
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-11
All reports are confidential and must be made available to a parent, the child’s guardian, and any person who is the subject of a report provided that the identity of persons reporting or supplying information is protected.