Title 1, General Provisions

No caption, source note, or cross-reference note, whether designating an entire title, chapter, section, subsection, or subdivision, constitutes any part of a statute. A caption may not be used to determine legislative intent or the legislative history for any statute. An effecti…

Any provision in this code which is a part of a uniform statute must be so construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.

Words giving a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons must be construed as giving such authority to a majority of them, unless it appears otherwise in the act giving the authority.

The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last is a holiday, and then it also is excluded. If a number of months is to be computed by counting the months from a particular day, the period ends…

Whenever any act of the legislative assembly which repealed a former act is repealed, such former act is not revived by such repeal.

The repeal of any statute by the legislative assembly, or by the people through an initiated law, does not have the effect of releasing or extinguishing any penalty, fine, liability, or forfeiture incurred under such statute, but as to cases tried before, or subsequent to, the re…

No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by its provisions, but the proceedings therein must conform to the requirements of this code as far as applicable.

No statute, law, or rule is continued in force because it is consistent with the provisions of this code on the same subject, but in all cases provided for by this code all statutes, laws, and rules heretofore in force in the state, whether consistent or not with the provisions o…

In the event that any clause, sentence, paragraph, chapter, or other part of any title, is adjudged by any court of competent or final jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment does not affect, impair, nor invalidate any other clause, sentence, paragraph, chapter, section, or par…

Unless a different intention plainly appears, a public officer who is in office when this code takes effect shall remain in office until the expiration of the term for which the officer was elected or appointed unless the officer is removed prior to the expiration of the term as …

When any office is abolished by the repeal of any legislative act or provision, and such act or provision is not in substance re-enacted or continued in the code, such office ceases at the time the code takes effect.

When a limitation or period of time prescribed in any existing statute for acquiring a right or barring a remedy, or for any other purpose, has begun to run before this code goes into effect, and the same or any limitation of time is prescribed in this code, the time which alread…

Unless otherwise specially provided, every period of time prescribed in any statute existing prior to the taking effect of this code with reference to the commencement of a proceeding or the performance of any other act, must be computed from the date of the event at which such p…

For purposes of historical reference and as an aid to interpretation, the provisions of this code, so far as they are substantially the same as previously existing statutes, must be construed as continuations thereof, and not as new enactments except that a revised version of suc…

Any provision of this code which was enacted as an initiated measure, or as a part of such a measure, notwithstanding the revision, shall remain in effect as an initiated provision and is subject to amendment, re-enactment, or repeal only as provided by section 25 of the Constitu…

If the provisions of any chapter or title conflict with or contravene the provisions of any other chapter or title, the provisions of each chapter or title must prevail as to all matters in question arising thereunder out of the same subject matter.

Except when it is declared otherwise, the provisions of this code in respect to the rights and obligations of parties to contracts are subordinate to the intention of the parties, when ascertained in the manner prescribed by the chapter on the interpretation of contracts. The ben…

No existing corporation or limited liability company is dissolved on account of the repeal of any statute pursuant to which it was organized, nor may the powers specified in its charter, certificate, articles of incorporation, or articles of organization be impaired or limited th…

No provision contained in this code may be so construed as to impair any vested right or valid obligation existing when it takes effect.

The boundaries of every county, city, school district, and other local subdivision, shall remain the same as they were established prior to the taking effect of this code until they are changed in the manner provided in such code.

Every ordinance, bylaw, rule, and regulation adopted by any county, city, civil township, board, commission, or public officer, and in force when this code takes effect, if not inconsistent with the provisions of the code, shall remain in force until it is repealed or amended in …

Any statute other than this code, whether enacted at the 1961 session of the legislative assembly or thereafter, is deemed to have been enacted subsequently to the enactment of this code. If any such statute repeals, amends, or is inconsistent with any provision of this code, the…

If at the time this code takes effect any action or proceeding properly commenced prior thereto is pending before any court, tribunal, board, commission, or public officer, and such court, tribunal, board, commission, or public officer is without jurisdiction of such action or pr…

Wherever the term "registered mail" appears in the laws of the state of North Dakota it means "registered or certified mail".

All amendments of and additions to the North Dakota Century Code appearing in pocket part supplements must be cited as sections of the North Dakota Century Code.

In enacting a statute, it is presumed that: 1. Compliance with the constitutions of the state and of the United States is intended. 2. The entire statute is intended to be effective. 3. A just and reasonable result is intended. 4. A result feasible of execution is intended. 5. Pu…

If a statute is ambiguous, the court, in determining the intention of the legislation, may consider among other matters: 1. The object sought to be attained. 2. The circumstances under which the statute was enacted. 3. The legislative history. 4. The common law or former statutor…

A reference to any portion of a statute applies to all re-enactments, revisions, or amendments thereof.

If a statute refers to a series of numbers or letters, the first and the last numbers or letters are included.

In determining the effective date of any law enacted by the legislative assembly, a "measure" includes the entire contents of a legislative act, unless the legislative assembly specifically provides within the act that only a portion of the act is an emergency, appropriation, or …

Holidays are as follows: 1. Every Sunday. 2. The first day of January, which is New Year's Day. 3. The third Monday of January, which is Martin Luther King Day, in recognition of the life, legacy, and dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. 4. The third Monday in February, in recognitio…

State offices must be closed at twelve noon on December twenty-fourth, Christmas Eve day, unless it is a weekend or holiday pursuant to section 1-03-02.1.

If the first day of January, the fourth day of July, the eleventh day of November, or the twenty-fifth day of December falls upon a Sunday, the Monday following shall be the holiday.

If any of the holidays enumerated in section 1-03-02 fall on a Saturday, the Friday immediately before shall be the holiday.

No person, prior to the hour of two p.m. of the day set apart as Memorial Day, may engage in organized or commercial ball games, horseracing, sports, or any entertainment which will interfere with the proper observance of such day. Any violation of this section is an infraction.

All days other than those mentioned in sections 1-03-01, 1-03-02, and 1-03-02.1 are to be deemed business days for all purposes. However, any bank may remain closed on any one business day of each week, as it may from time to time elect. Any day upon which a bank is so closed sha…

Whenever an act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, is appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, that falls upon a Saturday or a holiday, the act may be performed upon the next business day with the same effect as if it had been…

The governor each year shall designate the second Sunday in May as Mothers' Day. The governor shall issue a proclamation requesting the people of the state to assemble on that Sunday in their churches, or at such other place or places as may be most convenient and proper, for the…

In order to promote and encourage the planting of trees in this state, the first Friday in May of each year is hereby designated and established as "Arbor Day" for the state of North Dakota.

To promote and encourage the conservation and enjoyment of one of nature's most attractive features, and to honor the birth and work of naturalist John James Audubon who made America's birds known to the world through his drawings and vivid prose, April twenty-sixth of each year …

The twenty-eighth day of April of each year is designated as Workers' Memorial Day in remembrance of American workers who have been killed, injured, or diseased on the job.

Each year the governor shall issue a proclamation designating the last Sunday of September as Gold Star Mothers' Day in honor of mothers whose sons or daughters served and died in the line of duty in the armed forces of the United States of America or its allies, or died as a res…

Each year the governor shall issue a proclamation designating the first Sunday of February as Four Chaplains Sunday in honor of the four United States army chaplains, George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling, and John P. Washington, who sacrificed their own lives to sav…

To recognize the indigenous peoples of the State of North Dakota and their contributions to the state and to the United States, the governor shall issue a proclamation each year designating the Friday before the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day.

March twenty-ninth of each year is Vietnam Veterans' Day. Each year the governor shall issue a proclamation on March twenty-ninth in honor and remembrance of surviving and departed Vietnam veterans, including the one hundred ninety-eight individuals from North Dakota whose names …

March of each year is Women Veterans' Month. Each year the governor shall issue a proclamation on March first in honor and remembrance of surviving and departed women veterans who have served honorably and with courage on behalf of the United States of America since the American …

Each year the governor shall issue a proclamation designating the dates of the national fallen firefighters memorial weekend as the North Dakota fallen firefighters memorial weekend and require that flags at state buildings be flown at half staff.

The third Monday in April of each year is Patriots' Day. To commemorate the start of the American Revolutionary War and the battles of Lexington and Concord, the governor shall issue a proclamation each year designating the third Monday in April as Patriots' Day. This section may…

To commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States, the nineteenth of June of each year is designated and established as Juneteenth for the state of North Dakota.

To celebrate the right-to-life, reaffirm the dignity and value of every human being, and to give thanks for the gift of life, the twenty-second of January of each year is designated and established as Right-To-Life Day.