North Dakota House Bill HB1079

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/7/25
• Refer: 1/7/25
• Report Pass: 1/13/25
• Engrossed: 1/15/25
• Refer: 2/5/25
• Report Pass: 3/7/25
• Enrolled: 3/12/25
• Passed: 3/18/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend and reenact subdivision c of subsection 3 of section 12.1-31.2-02, subsection 1 of section 20.1-06-07, sections 37-17.1-02.1 and 37-17.1-06, subsections 1 and 4 of section 37-17.1-07, subsections 1, 2, and 5 of section 37-17.1-07.1, subsections 2 and 3 of section 37-17.1-11, sections 37-17.1-14, 37-17.1-14.1, 37-17.1-15, and 37-17.1-22, subsection 3 of section 37-17.1-28, section 37-17.3-01, subsection 1 of section 37-17.3-02.2, section 37-17.3-08, subdivision c of subsection 2 of section 39-01-01, sections 39-03-13.2 and 54-12-22, subsection 2 of section 54-12-32, subsection 1 of section 57-40.6-12, subsection 3 of section 61-16.2-03, and section 65-06-01 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the renaming of divisions within the department of emergency services.

Summary

HB 1079 is a technical, department-reorganization bill that renames and updates references to divisions within the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. It changes statutory language from the “state radioemergency communications center” to the “division of the state radioemergency communications center” and from the “division of homeland security and emergency management” to the “division of homeland security and emergency management” within the department structure, while preserving the underlying duties of each division. The bill also updates related cross-references throughout the Century Code so that emergency communications, emergency management, alert systems, and related programs continue to operate under the revised names and organizational structure. Beyond renaming, the bill makes conforming updates across a wide range of emergency-services statutes. It addresses emergency alert systems such as silver alerts and blue alerts, statewide interoperability and radio system fees, hazardous chemicals preparedness and response, mutual aid, floodplain management, search and rescue reimbursement, and definitions for emergency volunteers and class C emergency vehicles. It also ties certain administrative actions to the newly named divisions, including database integration for fishhouse registration and access to law-enforcement and emergency communications systems. The bill’s impact on state law is primarily organizational and administrative rather than substantive. It revises multiple Century Code sections to align terminology with the current department structure and to ensure that agencies, local governments, and regulated parties continue to have clear statutory authority and reporting obligations. Affected parties include the Department of Emergency Services, the Game and Fish Department, local emergency management organizations, counties and cities using emergency communications systems, hazardous chemical facility operators, volunteer responders, and law enforcement agencies that rely on alert and interoperability systems. The general sentiment around the bill appears strongly positive and noncontroversial. The bill passed the House unanimously and the Senate with only one dissenting vote, suggesting broad agreement that the changes were needed to modernize statutory references and clean up agency names. The absence of committee transcript discussion also suggests the measure was treated as a routine technical update rather than a policy dispute. There is little visible contention in the available record. Because the bill is largely a conforming and renaming measure, any disagreement would likely have centered on the breadth of the statutory cleanup or on the administrative details of emergency-services governance, fees, and reporting systems. However, the voting history indicates that any such concerns were minimal and did not prevent near-unanimous approval.

Impact

HB 1079 amends numerous sections of the North Dakota Century Code to conform statutory language to the renamed and reorganized divisions within the Department of Emergency Services. It updates references to the state radioemergency communications center and homeland security and emergency management division, while preserving existing powers, duties, fee structures, reporting requirements, and emergency-response authorities. The bill affects emergency management agencies, local governments, law enforcement dispatch centers, hazardous chemical facilities, volunteer responders, and other entities that interact with state emergency systems.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received broadly favorable treatment throughout the legislative process. It passed the House 93-0 and the Senate 46-1, indicating strong bipartisan support and little opposition. With no committee transcript available and no recorded debate in the provided materials, the overall sentiment is best characterized as routine, technical, and largely uncontested.

Contention

There is no major contention evident in the available record. The measure is primarily a statutory cleanup bill, so any concerns would likely have been limited to the scope of the conforming amendments, the administrative implications of the department renaming, or the continued structure of emergency-services fees and reporting systems. The near-unanimous votes suggest those issues were not significant enough to generate organized opposition.