North Dakota House Bill HB1267

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/13/25
• Refer: 1/13/25
• Report Pass: 2/12/25
• Engrossed: 2/17/25
• Refer: 2/18/25
• Report Pass: 3/7/25
• Enrolled: 3/14/25
• Passed: 3/24/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 43-13-01, 43-13-02, 43-13-05, 43-13-07, 43-13-08, 43-13-13, 43-13-13.2, 43-13-13.3, 43-13-15, 43-13-16, 43-13-17, and 43-13-19 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to optometrist licensure.

Summary

HB 1267 updates North Dakota’s optometry licensing chapter in several ways. It modernizes terminology and administrative references, such as changing the board’s “secretary” to “executive director,” and clarifies the board’s authority over fees, records, and enforcement. The bill also revises definitions related to optometry, pharmaceutical agents, and practicing optometry, while preserving the prohibition on laser therapy and invasive surgery within the chapter’s scope. A major substantive change is the addition of telemedicine provisions for optometric services. The bill defines a distant-site provider, requires that the initial patient relationship be established through an in-person eye examination by a licensed optometrist with a physical location in North Dakota, and allows licensed optometrists to provide consultation, diagnosis, and treatment via telemedicine under board rules. It also requires provider identification and informed consent disclosures specific to telehealth technology and disconnection risks. The bill also refines licensure and prescribing rules. It maintains the requirement that optometrists obtain certification before using diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents, specifies training hours for therapeutic certification, and keeps the rule that optometrists may not dispense therapeutic pharmaceutical agents except in limited circumstances such as providing samples at no cost. It continues to require physician consultation when eye disease or pathology does not respond to treatment and keeps optometrists to the same standard of care as physicians when using pharmaceutical agents. HB 1267 appears to have been broadly supported. It passed the House 81-2 and the Senate 47-0, indicating strong bipartisan agreement and little opposition overall. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record does not show detailed floor or committee debate. The main points of potential contention are limited and appear to center on scope-of-practice and telemedicine safeguards. The bill preserves restrictions on invasive procedures and on dispensing therapeutic drugs, while expanding tele-optometry under board oversight. Those provisions suggest a balance between professional flexibility and patient-safety concerns, with the in-person initial exam requirement and informed-consent rules likely intended to address any concerns about remote care.

Impact

HB 1267 amends multiple sections of North Dakota Century Code chapter 43-13 governing optometrists. It updates board administration, fee-setting authority, licensure procedures, and enforcement language, and it adds explicit telemedicine authority and requirements for optometric services. The bill affects licensed optometrists, the North Dakota State Board of Optometry, patients receiving eye care, and related providers such as physicians and pharmacies by clarifying who may prescribe, fit, dispense, and provide services involving contact lenses and pharmaceutical agents.

Sentiment

The overall sentiment around HB 1267 is strongly favorable. The bill passed both chambers by wide margins, including unanimous Senate approval, suggesting broad legislative comfort with the licensing updates and telemedicine framework. The lack of recorded committee testimony in the provided materials means there is no detailed public record here of organized support or opposition, but the vote totals indicate minimal resistance.

Contention

The likely areas of contention are the bill’s expansion of tele-optometry and its continued regulation of prescribing and dispensing authority. Supporters would view the telemedicine provisions as modernizing access to eye care, while critics might worry about patient safety, quality of remote diagnosis, or overlap with physician and pharmacy roles. The bill addresses those concerns by requiring an in-person initial exam, informed consent, board rulemaking, and physician consultation when conditions do not respond to treatment.