# Title 12.1 — Criminal Code

## Chapter 12.1-08 — Obstruction of Law Enforcement - Escape

### § 12.1-08-01. Physical obstruction of government function.

1. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he intentionally obstructs, impairs,
impedes, hinders, prevents, or perverts the administration of law or other
governmental function.
2. This section does not apply to the conduct of a person obstructing arrest of himself,
but such conduct is subject to section 12.1-08-02. This section does apply to the
conduct of a person obstructing arrest of another. Inapplicability under this subsection
is a defense.
3. It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the administration of law or
other government function was not lawful, but it is no defense that the defendant
mistakenly believed that the administration of law or other government function was
not lawful. For the purposes of this subsection, the conduct of a public servant acting
in good faith and under color of law in the execution of a warrant or other process for
arrest or search and seizure shall be deemed lawful.
### § 12.1-08-02. Preventing arrest or discharge of other duties.

1. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, with intent to prevent a public servant
from effecting an arrest of himself or another for a misdemeanor or infraction, or from
discharging any other official duty, he creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the
public servant or to anyone except himself, or employs means justifying or requiring
substantial force to overcome resistance to effecting the arrest or the discharge of the
duty. A person is guilty of a class C felony if, with intent to prevent a public servant
from effecting an arrest of himself or another for a class A, B, or C felony, he creates a
substantial risk of bodily injury to the public servant or to anyone except himself, or
employs means justifying or requiring substantial force to overcome resistance to
effecting such an arrest.
2. It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the public servant was not
acting lawfully, but it is no defense that the defendant mistakenly believed that the
public servant was not acting lawfully. A public servant executing a warrant or other
process in good faith and under color of law shall be deemed to be acting lawfully.
### § 12.1-08-03. Hindering law enforcement.

1. A person is guilty of hindering law enforcement if he intentionally interferes with,
hinders, delays, or prevents the discovery, apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or
punishment of another for an offense by:
a. Harboring or concealing the other;
b. Providing the other with a weapon, money, transportation, disguise, or other
means of avoiding discovery or apprehension;
c. Concealing, altering, mutilating, or destroying a document or thing, regardless of
its admissibility in evidence;
d. Warning the other of impending discovery or apprehension other than in
connection with an effort to bring another into compliance with the law; or
e. Giving false information or a false report to a law enforcement officer knowing
such information or report to be false.
2. Hindering law enforcement is a class C felony if the actor:
a. Knows of the conduct of the other and such conduct constitutes a class AA,
class A, or class B felony; or
b. Knows that the other has been charged with or convicted of a crime and such
crime is a class AA, class A, or class B felony.
Otherwise hindering law enforcement is a class A misdemeanor.
3. A person who commits the crime of hindering law enforcement is subject to
prosecution in this state if the conduct interferes with or hinders an investigation of a

crime occurring within this state. The venue of a criminal action involving the crime of
hindering law enforcement is in any county in which the conduct of hindering is
committed or in any county in which a criminal offense is being investigated which is
hindered by the false information or other interfering conduct.
### § 12.1-08-04. Aiding consummation of crime.

1. A person is guilty of aiding consummation of crime if he intentionally aids another to
secrete, disguise, or convert the proceeds of a crime or otherwise profit from a crime.
2. Aiding consummation of a crime:
a. Is a class C felony if the actor knows of the conduct of the other and such
conduct constitutes a class A or class B felony.
b. Is a class A misdemeanor if the actor knows of the conduct of the other and such
conduct constitutes a class C felony or class A misdemeanor.
Otherwise aiding consummation of a crime is a class B misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-08-05. Failure to appear after release - Bail jumping.

1. A person is guilty of an offense if, after having been released upon condition or
undertaking that he will subsequently appear before a court or judicial officer as
required, he willfully fails to appear as required.
2. The offense is a class C felony if the actor was released in connection with a charge of
felony or while awaiting sentence or pending appeal after conviction of any crime.
Otherwise it is a class A misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-08-06. Escape.

1. A person is guilty of escape if, without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts
to remove himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention following
temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period. A person who is
subject to official detention under this section is guilty of escape, if while outside the
state of North Dakota and without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts to
remove himself from official detention, or fails to return to official detention following
temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period, when at the time the
person is in the legal custody of a warden of the penitentiary, department of
corrections and rehabilitation, or other competent authority by virtue of a lawful
commitment to official detention.
2. Escape is a class B felony if the actor uses a firearm, destructive device, or other
dangerous weapon in effecting or attempting to effect the actor's removal from official
detention. Escape is a class C felony if:
a. The actor uses any other force or threat of force against another in effecting or
attempting to effect the actor's removal from official detention; or
b. The person escaping was in official detention by virtue of the person's arrest for,
or on charge of, a felony, or pursuant to the person's conviction of any offense.
Otherwise escape is a class A misdemeanor.
3. In this section:
a. "Conviction of an offense" does not include an adjudication of juvenile
delinquency.
b. "Official detention" means arrest, custody following surrender in lieu of arrest,
detention in any facility for custody of persons under charge or conviction of an
offense or alleged or found to be delinquent, detention under a law authorizing
civil commitment in lieu of criminal proceedings or authorizing such detention
while criminal proceedings are held in abeyance, detention for extradition, home
detention as authorized by chapter 12-67, or custody for purposes incident to the
foregoing, including transportation, medical diagnosis or treatment, court
appearances, work, and recreation, or being absent without permission from any
release granted while under custody of a sentence such as work or education
release, community confinement, or other temporary leaves from a correctional or

placement facility. "Official detention" does not include supervision on probation
or parole or constraint incidental to release.
4. Irregularity in bringing about or maintaining detention, or lack of jurisdiction of the
committing or detaining authority, shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this
section if the escape is from the penitentiary or other facility used for official detention
or from detention pursuant to commitment by an official proceeding. In the case of
other detentions, irregularity or lack of jurisdiction shall be an affirmative defense if:
a. The escape involved no substantial risk of harm to the person or property of
anyone other than the detainee; or
b. The detaining authority did not act in good faith under color of law.
5. The jurisdiction of a violation of this section when the person is in the legal custody of
a warden of the penitentiary, the department of corrections and rehabilitation, or other
lawful authority is in the county where the violation occurred if the violation occurred
within this state, and is in Burleigh County or in the county in which the order
committing the person to official detention was entered if the violation occurred outside
this state.
### § 12.1-08-07. Public servants permitting escape.

A public servant concerned in official detention pursuant to process issued by a court, judge,
or magistrate is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he recklessly permits an escape and is guilty
of a class B misdemeanor if he negligently permits an escape. "Official detention" has the
meaning prescribed in subsection 3 of section 12.1-08-06.
### § 12.1-08-08. Inciting or leading riot in detention facilities.

1. A person is guilty of a class C felony if, with intent to cause, continue, or enlarge a riot,
he solicits a group of five or more persons to engage in a riot in a facility used for
official detention or engages in conduct intended to serve as the beginning of or signal
for such riot, or participates in planning such riot, or, in the course of such riot, issues
commands or instructions in furtherance thereof.
2. In this section:
a. "Official detention" has the meaning prescribed in subsection 3 of section
12.1-08-06.
b. "Riot" means a disturbance involving an assemblage of five or more persons
which by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or
injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs the operation of the facility
or other government function.
### § 12.1-08-09. Introducing or possessing contraband useful for escape.

1. A person is guilty of a class C felony if he unlawfully provides an inmate of an official
detention facility with any tool, weapon, or other object which may be useful for
escape. Such person is guilty of a class B felony if the object is a firearm, destructive
device, or other dangerous weapon.
2. An inmate of an official detention facility is guilty of a class C felony if he unlawfully
procures, makes, or otherwise provides himself with, or has in his possession, any
tool, weapon, or other object which may be useful for escape. Such person is guilty of
a class B felony if the object is a firearm, destructive device, or other dangerous
weapon.
3. In this section:
a. "Official detention" has the meaning prescribed in subsection 3 of section
12.1-08-06.
b. "Unlawfully" means surreptitiously or contrary to a statute or regulation, rule, or
order issued pursuant thereto.

### § 12.1-08-10. Harboring a runaway minor - Penalty.

A person who willfully harbors a runaway minor with knowledge that the child is being
sought by a law enforcement authority is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. This section does not
apply to a person who provides temporary sanctuary, not exceeding seventy-two hours, to a
runaway minor who is seeking refuge from a physically, sexually, or mentally abusive person.
For the purposes of this section, a "runaway minor" is an unemancipated minor who is
voluntarily absent from the minor's home without the consent of a minor's parent entitled to legal
custody of the minor or legal guardian with the intention of evading the direction or control of the
parent or guardian. This section does not apply to persons providing temporary sanctuary to
minors accompanied by a parent or legal guardian in a domestic violence shelter or safe home.
### § 12.1-08-11. Refusing to halt.

Any person, other than the driver of a motor vehicle under section 39-10-71, who willfully
fails or refuses to stop or who otherwise flees or attempts to elude, in any manner, a pursuing
peace officer, when given a visual or audible signal to stop, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor
for a first or second offense and a class A misdemeanor for a subsequent offense. A signal to
stop complies with this section if the signal is perceptible to the person and:
1. If given from a vehicle, the signal is given by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren,
and the vehicle is appropriately marked showing it to be an official law enforcement
vehicle; or
2. If not given from a vehicle, the signal is given by hand, voice, emergency light, or
siren, and the officer is in uniform or prominently displays the officer's badge of office.
