# Title 12 — Corrections, Parole, and Probation

## Chapter 12-48 — Employment of Inmates of the Penitentiary

### § 12-48-01. Employment of offenders.

All offenders committed to the department of corrections and rehabilitation may be
employed for the benefit of the state to the extent employment is available.
### § 12-48-02. Director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation to make rules

regarding employment of offenders.
The director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation shall establish rules and
regulations relating to the care, treatment, employment, and management of all offenders
committed to the legal and physical custody of the department.
### § 12-48-03. Manner of employing offenders.

The director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation and the warden of the
penitentiary shall attempt to employ all offenders committed to the legal and physical custody of
the department in maintaining the penitentiary and penitentiary grounds, in carrying on the work
of the industries established at the penitentiary or at other state institutions, in doing any work
necessary to be done in the erection, repair, or improvement of any of the state buildings,
including the executive mansion, and the grounds of such buildings, or in the construction and
improvement of the public highways of the state. The department may employ offenders in work
projects for county and local governmental agencies and subdivisions. The department shall
employ offenders when practicable in the work to which they are best adapted and in the work
that will make it possible for them to acquire skill so that they will be able to earn a livelihood
when they are paroled or discharged from the institution. The department may employ offenders
outside the yard of the penitentiary in cultivating and improving any ground belonging to the
department. The department must be held responsible for the escape of any offender
notwithstanding that such employment is outside the penitentiary if the escape is made possible
through the negligence of the department.
### § 12-48-03.1. The director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation may

establish and engage in prison industries.
1. The director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation may establish and
engage in prison industries the director deems necessary and which are of greatest
benefit to and in the best interest of the state of North Dakota, the department, and
offenders committed to the legal and physical custody of the department. The director
may also discontinue industries when necessary. The director shall make all rules and
regulations and do all things necessary or incidental to the establishing and
maintaining of prison industries including the manufacture, sale, or distribution of
prison industries produce or products, and, so far as is compatible with the efficient
operation of the industry, shall use offenders committed to the department as laborers
in prison industries. The director shall also do all things necessary and incidental to the
discontinuance of industries no longer necessary or beneficial to the department. The
department shall keep a true and accurate account of all receipts from the established
industries and deposit the earnings in an account as provided by law.
2. All products made in prison industries may be purchased directly by governmental
agencies, including federal, state, and tribal agencies and political subdivisions, for
use in official business, and by nonprofit organizations, excluding trade associations,
fraternal organizations, co-ops, and health insurance companies. Prison industries
may sell commissary items and prison industries-made clothing to inmates. Prison
industries-made products may also be sold through wholesale or retail outlets that
possess a valid sales tax permit, and if the products are manufactured under the
prison industries enhancement certification program under Public Law No. 96-157 [93
Stat. 1215; 18 U.S.C. 176(c)], in interstate commerce and through export firms for sale
to international markets.

### § 12-48-03.2. Prison industry authorized to trade, barter, and exchange merchandise,

equipment, and services.
Prison industry is authorized to trade, barter, and exchange merchandise, equipment, and
services with any state agency if such is in the best interest of the prison industry and approved
by the director of the department of corrections and rehabilitation.
### § 12-48-03.3. Roughrider industries' operating fund - Bank of North Dakota.

Roughrider industries may establish its own operating fund in the Bank of North Dakota.
Interest earned on the roughrider industries' operating fund shall be deposited in the state
general fund. Roughrider industries may use its own manufacturing accounting system and
must report annually its revenues and expenditures to the office of management and budget for
the purpose of its financial statements being included in the state's comprehensive audited
financial statements.
### § 12-48-04. Inmates may be employed in improving roads and streets.

Repealed by S.L. 1989, ch. 156, § 54.
### § 12-48-05. Conditions for employing inmates outside of the penitentiary.

Repealed by S.L. 1989, ch. 156, § 54.
### § 12-48-06. Labor of inmates - Sale of articles produced.

Inmate labor may be used by the state in carrying on farming and ranching operations, or in
any industry established at the penitentiary, and the state may dispose of the products of the
farming and ranching enterprises. The industry products may be disposed as provided in
section 12-48-03.1. Sales to visitors and the general public by inmates of articles made by them
in hobby shall be permitted under such rules and regulations as may be established by the
warden.
### § 12-48-06.1. Prison industry advisory committee.

Repealed by S.L. 2025, ch. 479, § 39.
### § 12-48-07. Tools and equipment.

The warden, under the direction of the director of the department of corrections and
rehabilitation, shall procure the machinery, tools, and equipment necessary to carry on and
conduct the work and industries of the penitentiary. Procurement must be made by the warden
according to chapter 54-44.4 and rules adopted under that chapter.
### § 12-48-08. Penitentiary tannery.

Repealed by S.L. 1965, ch. 108, § 1.
### § 12-48-09. Manufacture of coffins at the penitentiary.

Repealed by S.L. 1965, ch. 108, § 1.
### § 12-48-10. Marking of coffins.

Repealed by S.L. 1965, ch. 108, § 1.
### § 12-48-11. Sale of coffins - Price - Use of proceeds.

Repealed by S.L. 1965, ch. 108, § 1.
### § 12-48-12. Manufacture and sale of license plates and road signs.

Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 114, § 3.
### § 12-48-13. Use of receipts from sale of license plates and road signs.

Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 114, § 3.

### § 12-48-14. Compensation of offenders.

Offenders who work at the penitentiary or in its prison industries shall receive compensation
in an amount to be determined by the warden and approved by the director of the department of
corrections and rehabilitation within the limits of legislative appropriations for that purpose. The
warden shall assign work to each offender and shall pay the offender based on the amount of
work the offender performs, up to the maximum compensation determined by the warden. If an
offender has worked in excess of ten hours per day, the offender shall receive such additional
compensation as the warden may allow. All offenders working in prison industries may receive
pay based upon actual production of salable items as determined by the warden, to be paid out
of funds the legislative assembly appropriates.
### § 12-48-15. Disposition of inmate funds - Warden to keep account of inmate funds.

1. The warden of the penitentiary shall keep an account for each inmate. Not more than
fifty percent of an inmate's penitentiary earnings, as provided by penitentiary rules,
must be withheld from an inmate and deposited in a separate account for the inmate
and may not be made available to the inmate until the inmate's release from the
penitentiary, except as authorized by the warden. The remainder of an inmate's
earnings must be made available to the inmate on a regular basis.
2. Inmates may, in writing, authorize the warden or designee to deposit any of their
accumulated earnings from the prison industries, hobby, work release, or any other
prison program in an interest-earning account in the Bank of North Dakota for the
benefit of the inmate. The account must be a two-signature account requiring the
inmate's signature and that of an authorized designated officer or employee of the
state penitentiary for withdrawal.
3. The warden may directly deposit an inmate's funds from sources outside of the
penitentiary in any bank or account the inmate may designate. If a court order does
not allow an inmate to designate a bank or account other than a Bank of North Dakota
account or if it is necessary for the benefit and protection of the inmate, the warden,
upon written explanation to the inmate, shall deposit an inmate's funds from sources
outside the penitentiary into a Bank of North Dakota account. The department of
corrections and rehabilitation and its divisions, departments, officers, and employees
may not be held responsible or liable for any inmate income or funds deposited into a
bank or account designated by an inmate.
4. The warden is responsible for guiding inmates in making proper use of their funds to
pay their obligations, including the payment of any administratively ordered fee, fine or
restitution, court-appointed counsel fees, court-ordered restitution, support for
dependent relatives, or to provide for their own medical, surgical, eye care, or dental
treatment, or to pay for other services not generally provided by the state. The warden
may withdraw funds from an inmate's penitentiary account or Bank of North Dakota
two-signature account, without the inmate's signature, to meet the inmate's legitimate
financial obligations. Before the funds may be withdrawn, the inmate must first receive
written notice and be provided a penitentiary administrative hearing with the right to
appeal according to department of corrections and rehabilitation rules. An inmate is not
entitled to prior written notice, administrative hearing, or right to an appeal to the
department of corrections and rehabilitation when funds are to be withdrawn for
payment of a court-ordered obligation, including child support, provided the inmate has
had notice and an opportunity to be heard in the court proceedings.
5. The warden may pay an inmate all funds in the inmate's spending account, less the
inmate's outstanding obligations to the penitentiary, when the inmate is transferred to a
county jail or regional correctional center or placed in community corrections
confinement. The warden may pay an inmate all funds in the inmate's account, less
the inmate's outstanding obligations to the penitentiary, when the inmate is transferred
to a correctional facility outside of this state. The warden shall pay an inmate all funds
in the inmate's account, less the inmate's outstanding obligations to the penitentiary,
when the inmate is released on parole or discharged from the penitentiary.

### § 12-48-16. Disposition of earnings of inmate with dependents.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 111, § 6.
### § 12-48-17. Disposition of earnings of inmate with dependents when more than fifty

dollars in temporary aid account.
Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 111, § 6.
### § 12-48-18. Disposition of earnings of inmate who has no dependent relatives.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 111, § 6.
### § 12-48-19. Disposition of earnings of inmate who has no dependent relatives when

more than fifty dollars in temporary aid account.
Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 111, § 6.
### § 12-48-20. Disposition of earnings of prisoner who escapes or violates parole.

The money in a prisoner's penitentiary or Bank of North Dakota two-signature account or
any property belonging to a prisoner who escapes or violates the prisoner's parole shall be
forfeited and used to pay the expense of the prisoner's apprehension and capture. Any of the
prisoner's funds or property that is not required to pay for the prisoner's apprehension and
return to the penitentiary may be transferred by the warden into the penitentiary inmate
betterment fund.
### § 12-48-21. Disposition of unclaimed money.

Any money which has been earned by any inmate and credited to his account shall be
transferred to the general fund in the state treasury if such money is not claimed within one year
after the inmate earning it has been released from the penitentiary unless the law makes other
specific provision for its disposition.
### § 12-48-22. Fines and restitution for misconduct of offender.

The warden, with the approval of the director of the department of corrections and
rehabilitation, shall institute and maintain a uniform system of fines and restitution for violation of
department rules and when an offender causes personal injury or property damage. The warden
may deduct the fine or restitution from any funds credited to an offender's penitentiary account
or Bank of North Dakota two-signature account.
### § 12-48-23. Employment of penitentiary inmates in book salvage - Receipts.

Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 114, § 3.
