# Title 25 — Mental and Physical Illness or Disability

## Chapter 25-01.1 — Institutional Management

### § 25-01.1-01. Definition of supervising department.

In this chapter unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, "supervising
department" means that department, division, board, or office responsible for and exercising
supervision, control, and administration over the state hospital, as provided by law.
### § 25-01.1-02. Heads of institutions responsible to supervising department.

For the exercise of the duties of general supervision over the institutions subject to the
control of the supervising department, the heads of the institutions are responsible to the
supervising department.
### § 25-01.1-03. Adopt uniform system of accounting.

The supervising department shall devise and install a system of accounting and auditing of
all moneys appropriated, received, and expended. Such system must be adapted to the
institutions under its control and must be made as nearly uniform as the necessities of the case
may permit and in accordance with requirements of the office of management and budget.
### § 25-01.1-04. Books and accounts kept by supervising department.

The supervising department shall keep at its office a proper and complete system of books
and accounts with each institution under its control which must show every expenditure
authorized and made thereat. The book must exhibit an account of each extraordinary or special
appropriation made by the legislative assembly, with each item of expenditure thereof.
### § 25-01.1-05. Blanks and forms furnished by supervising department.

The supervising department shall formulate and furnish to each institution under its control
proper blanks and forms for all statements and accounts necessary to furnish the information
required of the institution.
### § 25-01.1-06. Supervising department to have access to institutions and to books and

records of institutions.
The supervising department shall have access to all the state institutions under its
management and control and to all books, accounts, vouchers, supplies, and equipment of each
of the institutions so that the supervising department may familiarize itself with the conditions,
needs, and requirements of the institutions. All books, documents, and records relating to the
concerns and business of such institutions except personal records of patients at all times must
be open to the examination of any citizen of this state. Personal records of patients must be
made available upon court order or in accordance with rules and regulations established by the
supervising department.
### § 25-01.1-07. Rules or policies for procedure and administration of institutions.

The supervising department shall make all necessary rules or policies for its own procedure
and for the general administration, supervision, and management of the institutions under its
control and management.
### § 25-01.1-08. Inspection of institutions.

The supervising department or its duly authorized representative shall visit and inspect the
institutions under its administration and control concerning administration, treatment, or finances
of such institutions at any time, but shall make such inspection at least twice each year. If
deemed necessary, the supervising department shall examine under oath the officers and
attendants, guards, and other employees and make such inquiries as will determine their fitness
for their respective duties.

### § 25-01.1-09. Investigation of institutions - Witnesses - Fees - Not excused from

testifying.
The supervising department, in aid of the investigation of any institution under its control,
may summon and compel the attendance of witnesses and examine the same under oath,
which any member thereof shall have the power to administer. The supervising department shall
have access to all books, accounts, papers, and property material to such investigation and may
order the production of any other books or papers material thereto. Witnesses other than those
in the employ of the state are entitled to the same fees as are allowed in civil cases in the
district court. The claim that any testimony or evidence sought to be elicited or produced on
such examination may tend to incriminate the person giving or producing it, or expose that
person to public ignominy, does not excuse that person from testifying or producing evidence,
documentary or otherwise, but no person may be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or
forfeiture for and on account of any matter or thing concerning which the person may testify or
produce such evidence. The witness is not exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury
committed in so testifying.
### § 25-01.1-10. Testimony taken at investigation transcribed and filed.

The supervising department shall cause the testimony taken at any investigation to be
transcribed and filed in its office within ten days after the same is taken, or as soon thereafter as
practicable. When so filed, the evidence must be open for inspection of any person.
### § 25-01.1-11. Failure to testify - Contempt.

Any person who fails or refuses to obey the orders of the supervising department issued in
an investigation of any institution under its control, or to give or produce evidence when
required, must be reported by the supervising department to the district court or any judge
thereof and must be dealt with by the court or judge as for contempt of court.
### § 25-01.1-12. Report to governor any abuses and wrongs existing in institutions.

The supervising department shall investigate and report to the governor any abuses or
wrongs alleged to exist in the institutions under its control and management.
### § 25-01.1-13. Supervising department to keep record of persons in institutions.

The supervising department shall keep in its office a record showing:
1. The residence, sex, age, nativity, occupation, religion, civil condition, and date of
entrance or commitment of every person, patient, or inmate in the institutions under its
control and administration.
2. The date of discharge of every such person from the institutions, and whether such
discharge was final.
3. The condition of the person at the time the person left the institution.
4. If a person is transferred from one institution to another, to what institution transferred.
5. If a person, patient, or inmate of an institution dies, the date and cause of death.
This information must be furnished to the supervising department by the institutions under its
control. Such other obtainable facts must be furnished as the supervising department, from time
to time, may require. No one may have access to the records, except as authorized by the
supervising department, or on the order of a court of record.
### § 25-01.1-14. Entrance and discharge record of persons at institutions.

The managing officer of each institution, within thirty days after the commitment or entrance
of a person, patient, or inmate to the institution, shall cause a true copy of the entrance record to
be made and forwarded to the office of the supervising department. When a patient or inmate
leaves, or is discharged, transferred, or dies in any institution, the superintendent or person in
charge, within ten days thereafter, shall send such information to the supervising department
having control of such institution. All such information must be furnished on forms which the
supervising department may prescribe.

### § 25-01.1-14.1. Heads of institutions - Duty to appoint surrogate parents.

The heads of each of the state institutions shall establish as required by the state
superintendent a procedure for determining whether a patient under the age of twenty-one
years needs a surrogate parent and for assigning such a surrogate parent for the purpose of
special education and related services.
### § 25-01.1-15. Supervising department to provide protection against fire - Means of

escape.
The supervising department under advisement of the state fire marshal shall compel the
superintendent of each of the institutions under its control to:
1. Provide at each institution adequate and ready means of protection against fire.
2. Construct proper means of escape for the patients and attendants where the same are
not already constructed.
3. Establish and enforce rigid rules and regulations by which the danger of fire shall be
minimized.
4. Prevent, as far as possible, injury to the patients or pupils and loss or destruction, by
any cause, of the property of the state.
### § 25-01.1-16. Inventory of stocks and supplies.

The supervising department, annually on June thirtieth of each year, shall require the
superintendent of each institution under its charge to make a complete, minute, and accurate
inventory of the stock and supplies on hand, and the amount and value thereof. The inventory
must be under the following heads:
1. Livestock.
2. Produce of the farm on hand.
3. Automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles.
4. Agricultural implements.
5. Machinery.
6. Mechanical fixtures.
7. Real estate.
8. Beds and bedding in patients' department.
9. Other furniture in patients' department.
10. Personal property of the state in superintendent's department.
11. Readymade clothing.
12. Dry goods.
13. Provisions and groceries.
14. Drugs and medicines.
15. Fuel.
16. Library property.
17. All other property under such heads as the supervising department may deem proper.
A like inventory must be submitted by the proper superintendent of each institution to the
supervising department when requested by the supervising department.
### § 25-01.1-17. Moneys remitted to state treasurer.

All moneys belonging to the state, derived from any source at any of the institutions under
the control of the supervising department, must be accounted for and remitted to the state
treasurer not later than the tenth day of each month. The state treasurer shall maintain a special
operating fund within the state treasury for each remitting institution. All rents, interests, or
income from land, money, or property donated or granted by the United States and allocated to
specific charitable institutions under the terms of the Enabling Act and the Constitution of North
Dakota must be deposited in such special operating fund of each institution and expended in
accordance with section 1 of article IX of the Constitution of North Dakota. The state treasurer
shall make periodic transfers upon order of the director of the office of management and budget
from each institutional general fund appropriation to the appropriate institutional special
operating fund whenever its balance falls so low as to require supplementation. All funds for

necessary expenditures of such institutions must be drawn from the special operating fund in
the state treasury as provided by this chapter.
### § 25-01.1-18. Property of institution is property of state.

All public property of every kind and all public money in the charge of the superintendent of
any institution under the control of the supervising department, or that comes to the
superintendent's control on account of the institution under the superintendent's charge, or from
the business thereof, is the property of the state and at all times must be kept separate and
apart from the property of such superintendent.
### § 25-01.1-19. Funds belonging to institutions or patients to be paid to superintendent.

Each officer and employee of all state institutions under the management and control of the
supervising department shall pay over to the superintendent of the institution without delay any
funds which may come into the officer's or employee's hands belonging to any patient of the
institution and of which the superintendent is the legal custodian. An officer or employee shall
pay over to the proper officer of the institution without delay any funds belonging to the
institution.
### § 25-01.1-20. Care and custody of funds belonging to patients of state institutions.

The superintendent of any state institution under the management and control of the
supervising department, when the care and custody of any funds belonging to patients of a state
institution are by law devolved upon the superintendent, shall keep accurate accounts of these
funds in books provided for that purpose and shall pay out these funds under rules as may be
prescribed by law or by the supervising department, taking proper vouchers of the funds in all
cases from the patient or responsible representative of the patient. Each superintendent shall
give a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of duties.
### § 25-01.1-21. Property of patients to be returned.

The money and effects, except clothing, in possession of each patient when committed to
any institution under control of the supervising department must be preserved by the
superintendent of such institution and returned to such patient when discharged.
### § 25-01.1-22. Estimate of expenditures of institutions presented to supervising

department and office of management and budget - Revision.
At the times and in the manner provided by the office of management and budget, the
superintendent shall cause to be prepared triplicate estimates of all expenditures required for
the institution. Two of the said triplicate estimates must be sent to the supervising department
and the third must be kept by the superintendent. The supervising department may revise the
estimates for supplies or other expenditures and shall certify that it has carefully examined the
same and that the articles contained in such estimates as approved, or revised by it, are, to its
best knowledge and belief, actually required for the use of the institution. An approved copy
containing any revisions of the estimate by the supervising department must be forwarded by
the supervising department to the office of management and budget which shall contract for the
required purchases.
### § 25-01.1-23. Office of management and budget to advertise for bids for supplies - State

firm given preference.
Repealed by S.L. 1979, ch. 568, § 11.
### § 25-01.1-24. Contract for supplies sent to institution.

When the estimates for supplies for the institutions under the control of the supervising
department have been certified and revised by the supervising department and bids for the
supplies enumerated and described therein have been received and contracts for furnishing the
supplies have been let by the office of management and budget, a copy of such revised
estimates and the contract for furnishing the supplies enumerated and described in such revised

estimates, duly certified, must be sent to the institution and another copy must be sent to the
supervising department having control of such institution.
### § 25-01.1-25. Office of management and budget may purchase supplies on open

market.
Repealed by S.L. 1979, ch. 568, § 11.
### § 25-01.1-26. Bill presented to institution - Form - Thirty days allowed to pay for

supplies.
The supplies purchased for the institutions under the control of the supervising department
must be purchased so as to permit at least thirty days' time to pay therefor. The officer of the
institution designated by the supervising department shall require itemized bills to be rendered
by the person who furnishes supplies, in duplicate, for all purchases whether made upon
contract or otherwise, which must be in the form prescribed by the office of management and
budget and certified as required for other claims against the state.
### § 25-01.1-27. Rules for purchase of supplies - Jobbers to file address with office of

management and budget or institutions.
Repealed by S.L. 1979, ch. 568, § 11.
### § 25-01.1-28. Supplies of institutions - Duties of officers.

The officer of each institution who is designated by the supervising department to have
charge of and to be accountable for all the supplies and stores of the institution must be
charged therewith at their invoice value, and shall:
1. Direct all purchases of such institution as may be ordered by the office of management
and budget under the estimates as provided in section 25-01.1-22, in conjunction with
the superintendent of each institution.
2. Issue all the supplies upon requisition approved by the superintendent or other officer
designated by the supervising department. The requisition shall be the officer's
voucher therefor.
3. Examine and register all goods delivered, according to their amount and quality, and if
found to correspond with the samples and in good order and correct in charge, the
officer shall certify the bills.
4. Make a consolidated report of all purchases to the office of management and budget
and the supervising department and all other transactions of such institution to such
supervising department at the close of the annual period.
### § 25-01.1-29. Shortage in supplies - Liability of officer in charge.

If it appears that there is a shortage in the supplies of any institution, the supervising
department having control of such institution shall appoint a committee to investigate the cause
thereof. If it appears that the shortage resulted from unavoidable loss, without the negligence of
the officer designated to have charge of the supplies, such officer must be credited therewith,
otherwise the officer must be charged with the amount thereof and must be required to pay the
same into the state treasury within sixty days after the determination of the loss. If default is
made in such payment, the officer shall forfeit the office and suit must be instituted upon the
officer's official bond to recover the same.
### § 25-01.1-30. Monthly statement of institutional expenditures and payroll to supervising

department.
An officer designated by the supervising department for each institution under its control
shall prepare two monthly statements showing first the payroll and second the expenditures of
every kind during the preceding month. Such statement must be signed by the officer, approved
by the superintendent of the institution, and filed with the supervising department on a date fixed
by the supervising department for the examination and audit of such department. Attached
thereto must be the affidavit of the officer stating that the services therein specified were

rendered and that the goods and other articles therein specified were purchased and received
by the officer or under the officer's direction at the institution and were purchased at a fair cash
market price on credit not exceeding thirty days, that neither the officer nor any person in the
officer's behalf had any pecuniary or other interest in the purchases made, that the officer did
not receive any pecuniary or other benefit therefrom, directly or indirectly, by commission,
percentage, deductions or in any other manner whatever, and that the articles contained in such
bill conformed in all respects to the invoiced goods received and ordered by the officer or the
samples from which the goods were purchased, both in quality and quantity. Such monthly
statement must be accompanied by the original invoices of all institutional purchases and a
complete itemized statement of each institutional expenditure. If any invoice or statement, or
any part thereof, is found objectionable, the supervising department having control of such
institution shall endorse its disapproval thereon with its reasons therefor, and shall return it to
the management of the institution, and when the matter disapproved of is corrected, the
statement and invoice must be returned to the supervising department.
### § 25-01.1-31. Audit of monthly statements of expenditures - Abstracts of statement -

Payment.
When the monthly statement of expenditures of an institution have been audited by the
supervising department having control of such institution and found correct, the supervising
department shall prepare an abstract, in duplicate, showing the name, residence, and the
amount due each claimant, and the institution and the fund thereof on account of which the
payment shall be made. The supervising department shall deliver one copy thereof to the office
of management and budget and the other copy must be retained in the office of the department.
The office of management and budget, upon receipt of the certified abstract, after approval by
the office of the budget, shall issue a warrant or warrants for the amount or amounts thereof and
shall deliver the same to the supervising department for delivery to the proper officer of the
institution, to be paid out in conformity with such rules as the supervising department may
prescribe.
### § 25-01.1-32. Examination of monthly payroll - Payment.

When the monthly statement of the payroll of an institution has been audited by the
supervising department and found correct, the supervising department shall prepare an
abstract, in duplicate, showing the name, residence, and the amount due each claimant, and the
institution and the fund from which the payment shall be made. The supervising department
shall deliver one copy thereof to the office of management and budget and the other copy must
be retained in the office of the supervising department. The office of management and budget,
upon receipt of the certified abstract, after approval by the office of the budget, shall issue a
warrant or warrants for the amounts thereof and shall deliver the same to the supervising
department for delivery to the proper officer of the institution, to be paid out in accordance with
such rules as the supervising department may prescribe.
### § 25-01.1-33. Use of patient labor in erection or repair of buildings of institutions.

All work for the erection, repair, or improvement of buildings, grounds, or properties under
the control of the supervising department must be let by contract, except that the work of
patients in such institutions may be utilized if approved by the superintendent of such institution
as having possible benefits to the patient and not detrimental to the patient's health or treatment
and when the use of such labor will not substantially depart from the requirements of chapter
48-01.2.
### § 25-01.1-34. Supervising department, employees, or employees of institutions not to

be interested in contracts.
No member of the supervising department, nor any employee of any of the same, nor any
employee of the institutions under control of the supervising department, may be interested,
directly or indirectly, in any contract, purchase, or sale for or on account of any of the institutions

under control of such supervising department. Any violation of the provisions of this section is
sufficient cause for removal from office.
### § 25-01.1-35. Members of supervising department and officers and employees of

institutions prohibited from accepting gifts - Penalty.
No member of the supervising department, nor any officer, agent, or employee thereof, and
no superintendent, officer, manager, or employee of any of the institutions under the charge and
control of the supervising department, directly or indirectly, for that person or to benefit any other
person, may receive or accept any gift or gratuity from any person dealing in goods,
merchandise, or supplies which may be used in any of the institutions, or from any employee,
servant, or agent of such person. Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a
class A misdemeanor. Such violation is cause for removal from office.
### § 25-01.1-36. Employees - Penalty for influencing appointment.

Any member of the supervising department and any officer thereof who exerts any improper
influence, by solicitation or otherwise, on the superintendent of any institution under the control
of the supervising department, in the selection of any employee or assistant, is guilty of a class
A misdemeanor.
### § 25-01.1-37. Political influence or contribution by members of supervising department

or employees of institution prohibited.
Any member or officer of the supervising department, or any officer or employee of an
institution subject to control of the supervising department, who, by solicitation or otherwise,
exerts the person's influence, directly or indirectly, to induce other officers or employees of the
state to adopt the person's political views must be removed from the person's office or position
by the proper authorities.
### § 25-01.1-38. Child welfare - Powers and duties of supervising department.

In addition to the other duties prescribed by law, the supervising department has the
following duties and powers:
1. To accept the guardianship of the persons or children who may be committed to its
care by courts of competent jurisdiction as neglected, delinquent, dependent, or
defective.
2. To make such provisions for children committed to its care as are within the resources
of the supervising department, and as will afford them proper care and protection.
3. To take the initiative in protecting and conserving the rights and interests of neglected,
dependent, delinquent, illegitimate, and defective children.
4. To act as parole officers of juveniles upon the request of courts of the state to which
dependent, neglected, handicapped, or delinquent children may be committed.
