North Dakota Senate Bill SB2144

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/7/25
• Refer: 1/7/25
• Report Pass: 1/28/25
• Engrossed: 1/31/25
• Refer: 2/18/25
• Report Pass: 3/10/25
• Enrolled: 3/14/25
• Passed: 3/18/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend and reenact subsection 2 of section 43-55-03, section 43-55-09, subsection 8 of section 44-06.1-20, and sections 44-06.1-28, 47-25-04, 47-25-07, and 54-09-04 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to information required in applications for professional employer services licensure, confidential records maintained by the secretary of state, notification provided to and fees charged by a notary public, notification provided to the registrant of a trade name, and fees charged by the secretary of state; and to provide a penalty.

Summary

SB 2144 makes a series of administrative and fee-related changes to North Dakota law, primarily affecting the secretary of state’s office, professional employer organizations, notaries public, and trade name registrants. For professional employer organization licensure, the bill updates the application information required and clarifies that certain identifying and financial records are confidential, including social security numbers, federal tax identification numbers, audited financial reports, and quarterly wage reports, except as needed for administration of the chapter. The bill also revises notice requirements and fee rules for notaries public. The secretary of state must notify notaries at least 30 days before commission expiration, and notaries may charge no more than $5 per notarial act, with separate provisions allowing travel fees and technology fees if agreed to in advance and disclosed as separate from the notarial fee. In addition, the bill updates trade name registration law by requiring the secretary of state to provide expiration notices, clarifying cancellation procedures, and adding notice before cancellation in cases involving material misrepresentation. A separate set of amendments modernizes and standardizes the secretary of state’s fee schedule under chapter 54-09, including fees for copies, certifications, searches, filings, and compiled information. The bill also adjusts how rejected filings are handled and clarifies when fees do not apply, while preserving exemptions for certain official filings and database systems. The measure includes a penalty provision tied to the notary fee limits. Overall, the bill’s impact is administrative rather than substantive: it updates filing requirements, confidentiality rules, notice procedures, and fee structures in several business- and records-related statutes. It affects applicants for professional employer services licensure, notaries, trade name registrants, and anyone filing or requesting records from the secretary of state. The bill appears to have broad support and little visible controversy. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House with only two dissenting votes, suggesting general agreement with the technical and procedural updates. The main points of potential concern are the fee changes for notarial acts and secretary of state services, along with the new or clarified confidentiality rules, but the voting record indicates these issues did not generate significant opposition.

Impact

SB 2144 amends multiple sections of the North Dakota Century Code governing secretary of state administration, professional employer organization licensing, notary public regulation, trade name registration, and state filing fees. It changes the information required in PEO license applications, expands confidentiality protections for certain submitted records, revises notice obligations for notary commissions and trade name registrations, and updates fee schedules and filing procedures under the secretary of state’s office. It also adds or preserves penalties for notaries who exceed the statutory fee cap.

Sentiment

The overall sentiment around SB 2144 was strongly favorable. The bill passed the Senate 45-0 and the House 89-2, indicating broad bipartisan support for the administrative updates. The absence of committee transcript material suggests there was little recorded public controversy or extended debate, and the near-unanimous votes imply the bill was viewed as a routine housekeeping measure rather than a contentious policy change.

Contention

The most likely areas of contention are the new fee rules and the expanded authority of the secretary of state to charge for filings, searches, copies, and compiled information, as well as the limits on notary fees and the conditions for charging travel and technology fees. Some attention may also have been given to the confidentiality provisions for business and wage-report records and the procedures for canceling trade names based on misrepresentation. However, the recorded votes show minimal opposition, so any disagreement appears to have been limited and not enough to affect passage.