North Dakota Code 12.1-31.2-02 – Order prohibiting contact
1. If an individual who is charged with or arrested for a crime of violence or threat of violence, stalking, harassment, or a sex offense is released from custody before arraignment or trial, the court authorizing the release of the individual shall consider and may issue an order prohibiting the individual from having contact with the victim. The order must contain the court’s directives and must inform the individual that any violation of the order constitutes a criminal offense. The state‘s attorney shall provide a copy of the order to the victim. The court shall determine at the time of the individual’s arraignment whether an order issued pursuant to this section will be extended. If the court issues an order pursuant to this section before the time the individual is charged, the order expires at the individual’s arraignment or within seventy-two hours of issuance if charges against the individual are not filed.
Attorney's Note
Under the North Dakota Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class A misdemeanor | up to 360 days | up to $3,000 |
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 12.1-31.2-02
- Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
- Court: means any of the following courts: the supreme court, a district court, and where relevant, a municipal court. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Firearm: means any weapon that will expel, or is readily capable of expelling, a projectile by the action of an explosive and includes any such weapon, loaded or unloaded, commonly referred to as a pistol, revolver, rifle, gun, machine gun, shotgun, bazooka, or cannon. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Offense: means conduct for which a term of imprisonment or a fine is authorized by statute after conviction. See North Dakota Code 12.1-01-04
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Sex: means the biological state of being male or female, based on the individual's nonambiguous sex organs, chromosomes, or endogenous hormone profiles at birth. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
2. If the court has probable cause to believe that the individual charged or arrested is likely to use, display, or threaten to use a firearm or dangerous weapon as defined in section 12.1-01-04 in any further act of violence, the court shall require that the individual surrender for safekeeping any firearm or specified dangerous weapon in or subject to the individual’s immediate possession or control, to the sheriff of the county or chief of police of the city in which the individual resides.
3. Whenever an order prohibiting contact is issued, modified, extended, or terminated under this section, the clerk of court shall forward a copy of the order within one business day to the appropriate law enforcement agency specified in the order. Upon receipt of the copy of the order, the law enforcement agency shall enter the order in the central warrant information system and the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency.
a. Once the bureau, after consultation with the state court administrator, determines and implements a method to transmit electronically to the bureau an order prohibiting contact, the court electronically shall send the full text of the order as issued, modified, extended, or terminated in accordance with this section and any data fields identified by the bureau. This electronic submission will fulfill the law enforcement agency’s requirement to enter the order in the central warrant information system, but will not fulfill its requirement to enter, maintain, and respond to inquiries regarding the order in the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency.
b. Once the bureau, after consultation with the state court administrator, determines and implements an electronic method to notify law enforcement about the order, the clerk of court’s requirement to forward the order to the law enforcement agency will be satisfied.
c. Once the bureau, after consultation with the director of state radio, determines and implements a method to enter the order into the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency, the bureau shall enter the order electronically in the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency. This electronic entry will fulfill the law enforcement agency’s requirement to enter the order in the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency, but will not fulfill its requirement to maintain and respond to inquiries regarding the order in the national crime information center database provided by the federal bureau of investigation, or its successor agency.
4. An individual who violates a court order issued under this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
5. A law enforcement officer shall arrest an individual without a warrant if the officer determines there is probable cause that the individual has committed the offense of violating an order prohibiting contact under this section, whether or not the violation was committed in the presence of the officer. A law enforcement officer who acts in good faith on probable cause and without malice is immune from any civil or criminal liability for making an arrest under this subsection.