# Title 24 — Highways, Bridges, and Ferries

## Chapter 24-15 — Temporary Roadblocks

### § 24-15-01. Definition.

For the purpose of this chapter, a temporary roadblock means any structure, device, or
means used by police, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, game wardens, highway patrol troopers, agents
of the federal bureau of investigation, or officers of the United States border patrol, for the
purpose of controlling traffic through a point on a highway, road, or street, whereby all vehicles
may be slowed or stopped.
### § 24-15-02. Authority to establish roadblocks.

The duly authorized law enforcement officers are hereby authorized to establish in their
respective jurisdictions, or in other jurisdictions within the state, temporary roadblocks upon the
highways, roads, and streets of this state for the purpose of apprehending persons wanted for
violation of the laws of this state, or of any other state, or of the United States of America, and
using the highways, roads, or streets of this state for the purpose of escape.
### § 24-15-03. Minimum requirements.

For the purpose of warning and protecting the traveling public, the minimum requirements to
be met by such officers establishing temporary roadblocks are:
1. The temporary roadblock must be established at a point on the highway clearly visible
at a distance of not less than three hundred feet [91.44 meters] in either direction.
2. At a point of the temporary roadblock, at least one red light must be placed at the point
of the temporary roadblock which must display an intermittent or flashing beam of light,
clearly visible to the oncoming traffic at a distance of not less than three hundred feet
[91.44 meters] under normal atmospheric conditions. The intermittent or flashing beam
of light may be provided by lighting which is part of the equipment of a class A
authorized emergency vehicle.
### § 24-15-04. Existing law preserved.

Nothing in this chapter may be deemed to limit or encroach upon the existing authority of
North Dakota law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties involving traffic control
and criminal apprehension.
### § 24-15-05. Penalty.

Any person who proceeds or travels through a roadblock without submitting to the traffic
control so established is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
