# Title 12.1 — Criminal Code

## Chapter 12.1-11 — Perjury - Falsification - Breach of Duty

### § 12.1-11-01. Perjury.

1. A person is guilty of perjury, a class C felony, if, in an official proceeding, the person
makes a false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation, or swears or affirms the
truth of a false statement previously made, when the statement is material and the
person does not believe the statement to be true.
2. Commission of perjury need not be proved by any particular number of witnesses or
by documentary or other types of evidence.
3. If in the course of one or more official proceedings, the defendant made a statement
under oath or equivalent affirmation inconsistent with another statement made by the
defendant under oath or equivalent affirmation to the degree that one of them is
necessarily false, both having been made within the period of the statute of limitations,
the prosecution may set forth the statements in a single count alleging in the
alternative that one or the other was false and not believed by the defendant to be
true. Proof that the defendant made such statements constitutes a prima facie case
that one or the other of the statements was false, but in the absence of sufficient proof
of which statement was false, the defendant may be convicted under this section only
if each of such statements was material to the official proceeding in which it was made.
4. For purposes of this section, "false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation"
includes a writing made in accordance with chapters 31-14 and 31-15.
### § 12.1-11-02. False statements.

1. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, in an official proceeding, he makes a
false statement, whether or not material, under oath or equivalent affirmation, or
swears or affirms the truth of such a statement previously made, if he does not believe
the statement to be true.
2. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, in a governmental matter, he:
a. Makes a false written statement, when the statement is material and he does not
believe it to be true;
b. Intentionally creates a false impression in a written application for a pecuniary or
other benefit, by omitting information necessary to prevent a material statement
therein from being misleading;
c. Submits or invites reliance on any material writing which he knows to be forged,
altered, or otherwise lacking in authenticity;
d. Submits or invites reliance on any sample, specimen, map, boundarymark, or
other object which he knows to be false in a material respect; or
e. Uses a trick, scheme, or device which he knows to be misleading in a material
respect.
3. This section does not apply to information given during the course of an investigation
into possible commission of an offense unless the information is given in an official
proceeding or the declarant is otherwise under a legal duty to give the information.
Inapplicability under this subsection is a defense.
4. A matter is a "governmental matter" if it is within the jurisdiction of a government office
or agency, or of an office, agency, or other establishment in the legislative or the
judicial branch of government.
### § 12.1-11-03. False information or report to law enforcement officers or security

officials.
1. An individual is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if that individual:
a. Gives false information or a false report to a law enforcement officer which that
individual knows to be false, and the information or report may interfere with an
investigation or may materially mislead a law enforcement officer; or

b. Falsely reports to a law enforcement officer or other security official the
occurrence of a crime of violence or other incident calling for an emergency
response when that individual knows the incident did not occur. "Security official"
means a public servant responsible for averting or handling emergencies
involving public safety.
2. An on duty law enforcement officer having probable cause to suspect an individual has
vexatiously provided a false report regarding another individual to a law enforcement
officer or security official shall report the information to the state's attorney of the
county in which the violation occurs.
### § 12.1-11-04. General provisions.

1. Falsification is material under sections 12.1-11-01, 12.1-11-02, and 12.1-11-03
regardless of the admissibility of the statement under rules of evidence, if it could have
affected the course or outcome of the official proceeding or the disposition of the
matter in which the statement is made. Whether a falsification is material in a given
factual situation is a question of law. It is no defense that the declarant mistakenly
believed the falsification to be immaterial.
2. It is no defense to a prosecution under sections 12.1-11-01 or 12.1-11-02 that the oath
or affirmation was administered or taken in an irregular manner or that the declarant
was not competent to make the statement. A document purporting to be made upon
oath or affirmation at a time when the actor represents it as being so verified shall be
deemed to have been duly sworn or affirmed.
3. It is a defense to a prosecution under sections 12.1-11-01, 12.1-11-02, or 12.1-11-03
that the actor retracted the falsification in the course of the official proceeding or matter
in which it was made, if in fact he did so before it became manifest that the falsification
was or would be exposed and before the falsification substantially affected the
proceeding or the matter.
4. In sections 12.1-11-01 and 12.1-11-02, "statement" means any representation but
includes a representation of opinion, belief, or other state of mind only if the
representation clearly relates to state of mind apart from or in addition to any facts
which are the subject of the representation.
### § 12.1-11-05. Tampering with public records.

1. A person is guilty of an offense if he:
a. Knowingly makes a false entry in or false alteration of a government record; or
b. Knowingly, without lawful authority, destroys, conceals, removes, or otherwise
impairs the verity or availability of a government record.
2. The offense is:
a. A class C felony if committed by a public servant who has custody of the
government record.
b. A class A misdemeanor if committed by any other person.
3. In this section "government record" means:
a. Any record, document, or thing belonging to, or received or kept by the
government for information or record.
b. Any other record, document, or thing required to be kept by law, pursuant, in fact,
to a statute which expressly invokes the sanctions of this section.
### § 12.1-11-06. Public servant refusing to perform duty.

Any public servant who knowingly refuses to perform any duty imposed upon him by law is
guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-11-07. Fraudulent practice in urine testing.

A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if that person willfully defrauds a urine test and
the test is designed to detect the presence of a chemical substance or a controlled substance. A
person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if that person knowingly possesses, distributes, or

assists in the use of a device, chemical, or real or artificial urine advertised or intended to be
used to alter the outcome of a urine test.
