# Title 37 — Military

## Chapter 37-17.2 — National Guard Counter-Drug Activities Compact

### § 37-17.2-01. Ratification of compact.

The national guard mutual assistance counter-drug activities compact is hereby enacted
into law and entered into by this state, with all other states legally joining therein, in the form
substantially as follows:
The contracting states solemnly agree that:
The purposes of this compact are to:
1. Provide for mutual assistance and support among the party states in the utilization of
the national guard in drug interdiction, counter-drug, and demand reduction activities.
2. Permit the national guard of this state to enter into mutual assistance and support
agreements, on the basis of need, with one or more law enforcement agencies
operating within this state, for activities within this state, or with a national guard of one
or more other states, whether said activities are within or without this state in order to
facilitate and coordinate efficient, cooperative enforcement efforts directed toward drug
interdiction, counter-drug activities, and demand reduction.
3. Permit the national guard of this state to act as a receiving and a responding state as
defined within this compact and to ensure the prompt and effective delivery of national
guard personnel, assets, and services to agencies or areas that are in need of
increased support and presence.
4. Permit and encourage a high degree of flexibility in the deployment of national guard
forces in the interest of efficiency.
5. Maximize the effectiveness of the national guard in those situations which call for its
utilization under this compact.
6. Provide protection for the rights of national guard personnel when performing duty in
other states in counter-drug activities.
7. Ensure uniformity of state laws in the area of national guard involvement in interstate
counter-drug activities by incorporating said uniform laws within the compact.
1. This compact enters into force when enacted into law by any two states. Thereafter,
this compact becomes effective as to any other state upon its enactment thereof.
2. Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute repealing the
same.
1. As used in this article:
a. "Demand reduction" means providing available national guard personnel,
equipment, support, and coordination to federal, state, local, and civic
organizations, institutions, and agencies for the purposes of the prevention of
drug abuse and the reduction in the demand for illegal drugs.
b. "Drug interdiction and counter-drug activities" means the use of national guard
personnel, while not in federal service, in any law enforcement support activities
that are intended to reduce the supply or use of illegal drugs in the United States.
These activities are restricted to:
(1) Providing information obtained during either the normal course of military
training operations or during counter-drug activities, to federal, state, or local
law enforcement officials that may be relevant to a violation of any federal or
state law within the jurisdiction of such officials;
(2) Making available any equipment including associated supplies or spare
parts, base facilities, or research facilities of the national guard to any
federal, state, or local civilian law enforcement official for law enforcement
purposes, in accordance with other applicable law or regulation;
(3) Providing available national guard personnel to train federal, state, or local
civilian law enforcement in the operation and maintenance of equipment,

including equipment made available above, in accordance with other
applicable law;
(4) Providing available national guard personnel to operate and maintain
equipment provided to federal, state, or local law enforcement officials
pursuant to activities defined and referred to in this compact;
(5) Operation and maintenance of equipment and facilities of the national guard
or law enforcement agencies used for the purposes of drug interdiction and
counter-drug activities;
(6) Providing available national guard personnel to operate equipment for the
detection, monitoring, and communication of the movement of air, land, and
sea traffic, to facilitate communications in connection with law enforcement
programs, to provide transportation for civilian law enforcement personnel,
and to operate bases of operations for civilian law enforcement personnel;
(7) Providing available national guard personnel, equipment, and support for
administrative, interpretive, or analytic purposes; and
(8) Providing available national guard personnel and equipment to aid federal,
state, and local officials and agencies otherwise involved in the prosecution
of individuals processed within the criminal justice system who have been
arrested for criminal acts involving the use, distribution, or transportation of
controlled substances as defined in 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq. or otherwise by
law, in accordance with other applicable law.
c. "Law enforcement agency" means a lawfully established federal, state, or local
public agency that is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and
the enforcement of penal, traffic, regulatory, game, immigration, postal, customs,
or controlled substances laws.
d. "Mutual assistance and support agreement" or "agreement" means an agreement
between the national guard of this state and one or more law enforcement
agencies or between the national guard of this state and the national guard of
one or more other states, consistent with the purposes of this compact.
e. "Official" means the appointed, elected, designated, or otherwise duly selected
representative of an agency, institution, or organization authorized to conduct
those activities for which support is requested.
f. "Party state" refers to a state that has lawfully enacted this compact.
g. "Requesting state" means that state whose governor requested assistance in the
area of counter-drug activities.
h. "Responding state" means the state furnishing assistance, or requested to furnish
assistance, in the area of counter-drug activities.
i. "State" means each of the several states of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the
United States.
2. Upon the request of a governor of a party state for assistance in the area of drug
interdiction, counter-drug, and demand reduction activities, the governor of a
responding state has authority under this compact to send without the borders of the
governor's state and place under the temporary operational control of the appropriate
national guard or other military authorities of the requesting state, for the purposes of
providing such requested assistance, all or any part of the national guard forces of the
governor's state as the governor may deem necessary, and the exercise of the
governor's discretion in this regard is conclusive.
3. The governor of a party state, within the governor's discretion, may withhold the
national guard forces of the governor's state from such use and recall any forces or
part or member thereof previously deployed in a requesting state.
4. The national guard of this state is hereby authorized to engage in counter-drug
activities and demand reduction.
5. The adjutant general of this state, in order to further the purposes of this compact, may
enter into a mutual assistance and support agreement with one or more law
enforcement agencies of this state, including federal law enforcement agencies

operating within this state, or with the national guard of one or more other party states
to provide personnel, assets, and services in the area of counter-drug activities, and
demand reduction provided that all parties to the agreement are not specifically
prohibited by law to perform said activities.
6. The agreement must set forth the powers, rights, and obligations of the parties to the
agreement, where applicable, as follows:
a. Its duration;
b. The organization, composition, and nature of any separate legal entity created
thereby;
c. The purpose of the agreement;
d. The manner of financing the agreement and establishing and maintaining its
budget;
e. The method to be employed in accomplishing the partial or complete termination
of the agreement and for disposing of property upon such partial or complete
termination;
f. Provision for administering the agreement, which may include creation of a joint
board responsible for such administration;
g. The matter of acquiring, holding, and disposing of real and personal property
used in this agreement, if necessary;
h. The minimum standard for national guard personnel implementing the provisions
of the agreement;
i. The minimum insurance required of each party to the agreement, if necessary;
j. The chain of command or delegation of authority to be followed by national guard
personnel acting under the provisions of the agreement;
k. The duties and authority that the national guard personnel of each party state
may exercise; and
l. Any other necessary and proper matters.
Agreements prepared under the provisions of this statute are exempt from any state
law pertaining to intergovernmental agreements except an agreement with a tribal
government.
7. As a condition precedent to an agreement becoming effective under this part, the
agreement must be submitted to and receive the approval of the attorney general of
North Dakota. The attorney general may delegate in writing approval authority to an
assistant attorney general or a North Dakota national guard judge advocate.
a. The attorney general or the attorney general's designee shall approve an
agreement submitted under this part unless that person finds that it is not in
proper form, does not meet the requirements set forth in this part, or otherwise
does not conform to the laws of North Dakota. If the attorney general or the
attorney general's designee disapproves an agreement, that person shall provide
a written explanation to the adjutant general.
b. If the attorney general or the attorney general's designee does not disapprove an
agreement within thirty days after its submission, it is considered approved by the
attorney general.
8. Whenever national guard forces of any party state are engaged in the performance of
duties, in the area of drug interdiction, counter-drug, and demand reduction activities,
pursuant to orders, section 37-01-12 applies.
1. Nothing in this compact may be construed as a waiver of any benefits, privileges,
immunities, or rights otherwise provided for national guard personnel performing duty
pursuant to title 32 of the United States Code nor may anything in this compact be
construed as a waiver of coverage provided for under the Federal Torts Claims Act. In
the event that national guard personnel performing counter-drug activities do not
receive rights, benefits, privileges, and immunities otherwise provided for national
guard personnel as stated above, the following provisions apply:
a. Whenever national guard forces of any responding state are engaged in another
state in carrying out the purposes of this compact, the members thereof so

engaged have the same powers, duties, rights, privileges, and immunities as
members of national guard forces of the requesting state. The requesting state
shall save and hold members of the national guard forces of responding states
harmless from civil liability, except as otherwise provided herein, for acts or
omissions which occur in the performance of their duty while engaged in carrying
out the purposes of this compact, whether responding forces are serving the
requesting state within the borders of the requesting state or are attached to the
requesting state for the purposes of operational control.
b. Subject to the provisions of subdivisions c, d, and e, all liability that may arise
under the laws of the requesting state or the responding states, on account of or
in connection with a request for assistance or support must be assumed and
borne by the requesting state.
c. Any responding state rendering aid or assistance pursuant to this compact must
be reimbursed by the requesting state for any loss or damage to, or expense
incurred in the operation of any equipment answering a request for aid, and for
the cost of the materials, transportation, and maintenance of national guard
personnel and equipment incurred in connection with such request, provided that
nothing herein contained shall prevent any responding state from assuming such
loss, damage, expense, or other cost.
d. Unless there is a written agreement to the contrary, each party shall provide, in
the same amounts and manner as if they were on duty within their state, for pay
and allowances of the personnel of its national guard units while engaged without
the state pursuant to this compact and while going to and returning from such
duty pursuant to this compact.
e. Each party state providing for the payment of compensation and death benefits to
injured members and the representatives of deceased members of its national
guard forces in case such members sustain injuries or are killed within their own
state, shall provide for the payment of compensation and death benefits in the
same manner and on the same terms in the event such members sustain injury
or are killed while rendering assistance or support pursuant to this compact. Such
benefits and compensation must be deemed items of expense reimbursable
pursuant to subdivision c.
2. Officers and enlisted personnel of the national guard performing duties subject to
proper orders pursuant to this compact are subject to and governed by the provisions
of their home state code of military justice whether they are performing duties within or
without their home state. In the event that any national guard member commits, or is
suspected of committing, a criminal offense while performing duties pursuant to this
compact without that member's home state, that member may be returned immediately
to that member's home state and said home state is responsible for any disciplinary
action to be taken. However, nothing in this section abrogates the general criminal
jurisdiction of the state in which the offense occurred.
Nothing in this compact may be construed to prevent the governor of a party state from
delegating any of the governor's responsibilities or authority respecting the national guard;
provided, that such delegation is otherwise in accordance with law. For purposes of this
compact, however, the governor may not delegate the power to request assistance from another
state.
Nothing in the compact:
1. Authorizes or permits national guard units or personnel to be placed under the
operational control of any person not having the national guard rank or status required
by law for the command in question.
2. Deprives a properly convened court of jurisdiction over an offense or a defendant
merely because of the fact that the national guard, while performing duties pursuant to
this compact, was utilized in achieving an arrest or indictment.

### § 37-17.2-02. Authorization to implement compact.

The governor and adjutant general are authorized to enter appropriate agreements and
participate in drug interdiction and counter-drug activities pursuant to section 37-17.2-01.
