North Dakota Senate Bill SB2350

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/23/25
• Report DNP: 2/20/25

Caption

A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact section 44-04-18.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to an exemption from open records for employee performance and discipline records contained in personnel records.

Summary

SB 2350 would amend North Dakota’s open records law, specifically section 44-04-18.1 of the Century Code, to expand confidentiality protections for certain public employee personnel records. The bill makes performance and discipline records exempt from disclosure for three years or until the employee’s employment ends, whichever comes first, unless the records are part of an internal investigation or are requested by a law enforcement agency as part of a hiring process. It also preserves existing exemptions for medical, personal, leave, and other sensitive employee information. The bill further adjusts the treatment of internal investigations by extending the period during which complaint-related investigation records remain exempt from 75 days to 180 days, or until the investigation is complete, whichever occurs first. In addition, it continues to protect personal information for public employees and licensees, and it maintains exemptions for public safety peer counseling and peer debriefing information.

Impact

If enacted, SB 2350 would narrow public access to certain government personnel records by making employee performance and discipline records confidential for a defined period and by lengthening the confidentiality window for internal misconduct investigations. It would affect records held by state entities and political subdivisions, as well as occupational and professional boards and other agencies that maintain licensee information. The bill would therefore change how public employers, records custodians, and requesters under North Dakota’s open records laws handle personnel and investigative files.

Sentiment

The bill did not advance, failing on Senate second reading by a vote of 22 yeas to 25 nays. That vote suggests the proposal had meaningful support but not enough to overcome opposition. With no committee transcript available, the overall sentiment can be inferred mainly from the floor vote: the chamber was divided, and the measure did not achieve majority approval.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to have been the balance between employee privacy and public transparency. Supporters likely viewed the bill as a way to protect public employees from premature disclosure of performance and discipline records and to give agencies more time to complete internal investigations. Opponents likely objected that the bill would reduce access to government records and delay public oversight of misconduct or personnel management, especially by extending the exemption period for complaint investigations from 75 to 180 days.