# Title 12.1 — Criminal Code

## Chapter 12.1-17 — Assaults - Threats - Coercion - Harassment

### § 12.1-17-01. Simple assault.

1. A person is guilty of an offense if that person:
a. Willfully causes bodily injury to another human being; or
b. Negligently causes bodily injury to another human being by means of a firearm,
destructive device, or other weapon, the use of which against a human being is
likely to cause death or serious bodily injury.
2. The offense is:
a. A class C felony when the victim is a peace officer or correctional institution
employee acting in an official capacity, which the actor knows to be a fact; an
employee of the state hospital acting in the course and scope of employment,
which the actor knows to be a fact, and the actor is an individual committed to or
detained at the state hospital pursuant to chapter 25-03.3; a person engaged in a
judicial proceeding; or a member of a municipal or volunteer fire department or
emergency medical services personnel unit, or emergency department worker or
hospital worker, engaged in essential patient care, in the performance of the
member's duties.
b. A class B misdemeanor except as provided in subdivision a.
### § 12.1-17-01.1. Assault.

A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor, except if the victim is under the age of twelve
years in which case the offense is a class C felony, if that person:
1. Willfully causes substantial bodily injury to another human being; or
2. Negligently causes substantial bodily injury to another human being by means of a
firearm, destructive device, or other weapon, the use of which against a human being
is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury.
### § 12.1-17-01.2. Domestic violence.

1. For purposes of this section "family or household member" means family or household
member as defined in section 14-07.1-01.
2. A person is guilty of an offense if that person willfully causes:
a. Bodily injury to the actor's family or household member;
b. Substantial bodily injury to the actor's family or household member; or
c. Serious bodily injury to the actor's family or household member.
3. The offense is:
a. A class B misdemeanor for the first offense under subdivision a of subsection 2
and a class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense under this
section or sections 12.1-17-01, 12.1-17-01.1, or 12.1-17-02 involving the
commission of domestic violence, as defined in section 14-07.1-01. For purposes
of this subdivision, a prior conviction includes a conviction of any assault offense
in which a finding of domestic violence was made under a law or ordinance of
another state which is equivalent to this section.
b. A class A misdemeanor for an offense under subdivision b of subsection 2 and a
class C felony for an offense under subdivision c of subsection 2.
c. A class B felony for an offense under subdivision b or c of subsection 2 if the
victim is under twelve years of age.
4. A person charged with an offense under this section must be prosecuted in district
court.
5. This section applies to an individual under the age of eighteen if the:
a. Victim is or was in a dating relationship with the individual; or
b. Individual has a child in common with the victim.

### § 12.1-17-02. Aggravated assault.

1. Except as provided in subsection 2, a person is guilty of a class C felony if that person:
a. Willfully causes serious bodily injury to another human being;
b. Knowingly causes bodily injury or substantial bodily injury to another human
being with a dangerous weapon or other weapon, the possession of which under
the circumstances indicates an intent or readiness to inflict serious bodily injury;
c. Causes bodily injury or substantial bodily injury to another human being while
attempting to inflict serious bodily injury on any human being; or
d. Fires a firearm or hurls a destructive device at another human being.
2. The person is guilty of a class B felony if the person violates subsection 1 and the
victim:
a. Is under twelve years of age;
b. Is a peace officer or correctional institution employee acting in an official capacity,
which the actor knows to be a fact; or
c. Suffers permanent loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or
organ.
### § 12.1-17-03. Reckless endangerment.

An individual is guilty of an offense if the individual creates a substantial risk of serious
bodily injury or death to another. The offense is a class B felony if the individual uses a firearm.
The offense is a class C felony if the circumstances manifest the individual's extreme
indifference to the value of human life. Otherwise it is a class A misdemeanor. There is risk
within the meaning of this section if the potential for harm exists, whether or not a particular
person's safety is actually jeopardized.
### § 12.1-17-04. Terrorizing.

A person is guilty of a class C felony if, with intent to place another human being in fear for
that human being's or another's safety or to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly,
or facility of public transportation, or otherwise to cause serious disruption or public
inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror, disruption, or
inconvenience, the person:
1. Threatens to commit any crime of violence or act dangerous to human life; or
2. Falsely informs another that a situation dangerous to human life or commission of a
crime of violence is imminent knowing that the information is false.
### § 12.1-17-04.1. Domestic terrorism - Definitions - Penalty.

1. As used in this section:
a. "Domestic terrorism" means an activity conducted within the geographical
boundaries of the state which:
(1) Is done in cooperation with any federally designated terrorist organization
that threatens or appears to threaten the sovereignty of the state or the
United States of America;
(2) Is a violation of criminal law; and
(3) Either:
(a) Involves violent acts or threats specifically intended to physically harm
human life and:
[1] Intimidate, coerce, influence, or disrupt other lawful activity within
the state; or
[2] Influence the policy of the state or any political subdivision of the
state; or
(b) Involves the use of weapons of mass destruction.
b. "Material support or resources" means currency or other financial securities,
financial services, lodging, safe houses, training, false documentation or
identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances,

explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets. The term does
not include medical or religious material.
2. A person is guilty of a class C felony if the person willfully:
a. Assembles with one or more persons for the purpose of training or instructing in
the use of, or practicing with, any technique or means capable of causing
property damage, or bodily injury or death, with the intent to employ such training,
instruction, or practice in the commission of domestic terrorism;
b. Commits an act of domestic terrorism;
c. Conspires with one or more persons to commit an act of domestic terrorism; or
d. Provides material support or resources, or conceals or disguises the nature,
location, source, or ownership of material support or resources, with the
knowledge and intention that the support or resources are to be used in domestic
terrorism.
### § 12.1-17-05. Menacing.

A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he knowingly places or attempts to place
another human being in fear by menacing him with imminent serious bodily injury.
### § 12.1-17-06. Criminal coercion.

1. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, with intent to compel another to engage
in or refrain from conduct, he threatens to:
a. Commit any crime;
b. Accuse anyone of a crime;
c. Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to
subject any person, living or deceased, to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to
impair another's credit or business repute; or
d. Take or withhold official action as a public servant or cause a public servant to
take or withhold official action.
2. It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the actor believed,
whether or not mistakenly:
a. That the primary purpose of the threat was to cause the other to conduct himself
in his own best interest; or
b. That a purpose of the threat was to cause the other to desist from misbehavior,
engage in behavior from which he could not lawfully abstain, make good a wrong
done by him, or refrain from taking any action or responsibility for which he was
disqualified.
### § 12.1-17-07. Harassment.

1. As used in this section "robot" means an artificial object or system that senses,
processes, and acts using technology, including the associated elements,
communication links, and artificial intelligence. The term includes remotely piloted
aircraft.
2. A person is guilty of an offense if, with intent to frighten or harass another, the person:
a. Communicates in writing or by electronic communication a threat to inflict injury
on any person, to any person's reputation, or to any property;
b. Makes a telephone call anonymously or in offensively coarse language;
c. Makes repeated telephone calls or other electronic communication, whether or
not a conversation ensues, with no purpose of legitimate communication;
d. Communicates a falsehood in writing or by electronic communication and causes
mental anguish;
e. Communicates in writing, by electronic communication, or by electronically
publishing, posting, or otherwise disclosing information to a public internet site or
public forum an individual's personal identifying information; or
f. Uses a robot to engage in offensive conduct with no legitimate purpose.

3. The offense is a class A misdemeanor if it is under subdivision a of subsection 2 or
subsection 5. Otherwise it is a class B misdemeanor.
4. Any offense defined herein and committed by use of electronic communication may be
deemed to have been committed at either the place at which the electronic
communication was made or at the place where the electronic communication was
received.
5. A person is guilty of an offense if the person initiates communication with a
911 emergency line, public safety answering point, or an emergency responder
communication system with the intent to annoy or harass another person or a public
safety agency or who makes a false report to a public safety agency.
a. Intent to annoy or harass is established by proof of one or more calls with no
legitimate emergency purpose.
b. Upon conviction of a violation of this subsection, a person is also liable for all
costs incurred by any unnecessary emergency response.
6. Any offense defined herein is deemed communicated in writing if it is transmitted
electronically, by electronic mail, facsimile, or other similar means. Electronic
communication means transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or
intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photo-electronic, or photo-optical system.
### § 12.1-17-07.1. Stalking.

1. As used in this section:
a. "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct consisting of two or more acts
evidencing a continuity of purpose. The term includes an act conducted with a
robot in the direct control of the person. The term does not include constitutionally
protected activity.
b. "Immediate family" means a spouse, parent, child, or sibling. The term also
includes any other individual who regularly resides in the household or who within
the prior six months regularly resided in the household.
c. "Robot" means an artificial object or system that senses, processes, and acts
using technology, including the associated elements, communication links, and
artificial intelligence. The term includes remotely piloted aircraft.
d. "Stalk" means:
(1) To engage in an intentional course of conduct directed at a specific person
which frightens, intimidates, or harasses that person and which serves no
legitimate purpose. The course of conduct may be directed toward that
person or a member of that person's immediate family and must cause a
reasonable person to experience fear, intimidation, or harassment; or
(2) The unauthorized tracking of the person's movements or location through
the use of a global positioning system, robot, or other electronic means that
would cause a reasonable person to be frightened, intimidated, or harassed
and which serves no legitimate purpose.
2. A person may not intentionally stalk another person.
3. In any prosecution under this section, it is not a defense that the actor was not given
actual notice that the person did not want the actor to contact or follow the person; nor
is it a defense that the actor did not intend to frighten, intimidate, or harass the person.
An attempt to contact or follow a person after being given actual notice that the person
does not want to be contacted or followed is prima facie evidence that the actor
intends to stalk that person.
4. In any prosecution under this section, it is a defense that a private investigator
licensed under chapter 43-30 or a peace officer licensed under chapter 12-63 was
acting within the scope of employment.
5. If a person claims to have been engaged in a constitutionally protected activity, the
court shall determine the validity of the claim as a matter of law and, if found valid,
shall exclude evidence of the activity.
6. a. A person who violates this section is guilty of a class C felony if:

(1) The person previously has been convicted of violating section 12.1-17-01,
12.1-17-01.1, 12.1-17-01.2, 12.1-17-02, 12.1-17-04, 12.1-17-05, or
12.1-17-07, or a similar offense from another court in North Dakota, a court
of record in the United States, or a tribal court, involving the victim of the
stalking;
(2) The stalking violates a court order issued under chapter 14-07.1 protecting
the victim of the stalking, if the person had notice of the court order; or
(3) The person previously has been convicted of violating this section.
b. If subdivision a does not apply, a person who violates this section is guilty of a
class A misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-17-07.2. Distribution of intimate images without or against consent - Penalty.

1. As used in this section:
a. "Distribute" means selling, exhibiting, displaying, wholesaling, retailing, providing,
giving, granting admission to, providing access to, or otherwise transferring or
presenting an image to another individual, with or without consideration.
b. "Hosting company" means a person that provides services or facilities for storing
or distributing content over the internet without editorial or creative alteration of
the content.
c. "Intimate image" means any visual depiction, photograph, film, video, recording,
picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or
produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, that depicts:
(1) Exposed human male or female genitals or pubic area, with less than an
opaque covering;
(2) A female breast with less than an opaque covering, or any portion of the
female breast below the top of the areola; or
(3) The individual engaged in any sexually explicit conduct.
d. "Service provider" means an internet service provider, including a person who
leases or rents a wire or cable for the transmission of data.
e. "Sexually explicit conduct" means actual or simulated:
(1) Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or
oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex;
(2) Masturbation;
(3) Bestiality;
(4) Sadistic or masochistic activities;
(5) Exhibition of the genitals, pubic region, buttocks, or female breast of any
individual;
(6) Visual depiction of nudity or partial nudity;
(7) Fondling or touching of the genitals, pubic region, buttocks, or female
breast; or
(8) Explicit representation of the defecation or urination functions.
f. "Simulated sexually explicit conduct" means a feigned or pretended act of
sexually explicit conduct that duplicates, within the perception of an average
person, the appearance of an actual act of sexually explicit conduct.
2. A person commits the offense of distribution of intimate images if the person knowingly
or intentionally distributes to any third party any intimate image of an individual, if:
a. The person knows that the depicted individual has not given consent to the
person to distribute the intimate image;
b. The intimate image was created by or provided to the person under
circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy;
and
c. Actual emotional distress or harm is caused to the individual as a result of the
distribution under this section.
3. This section does not apply to:
a. Lawful practices of law enforcement agencies;
b. Prosecutorial agency functions;

c. The reporting of a criminal offense;
d. Court proceedings or any other judicial proceeding;
e. Lawful and generally accepted medical practices and procedures;
f. An intimate image if the individual portrayed in the image voluntarily allows public
exposure of the image; or
g. An intimate image that is portrayed in a lawful commercial setting.
4. This section also does not apply to:
a. An internet service provider or interactive computer service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. 230(f)(2);
b. A provider of an electronic communications service, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2510;
c. A telecommunications service, information service, or mobile service, as defined
in 47 U.S.C. 153, including a commercial mobile service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. 332(d);
d. A cable operator, as defined in 47 U.S.C. 552, if:
(1) The distribution of an intimate image by the cable operator occurs only
incidentally through the operator's function of:
(a) Transmitting or routing data from one person to another person; or
(b) Providing a connection between one person and another person;
(2) The operator does not intentionally aid or abet in the distribution of the
intimate image; and
(3) The operator does not knowingly receive from or through a person who
distributes the intimate image a fee greater than the fee generally charged
by the operator, as a specific condition for permitting the person to distribute
the intimate image; or
e. A hosting company, if:
(1) The distribution of an intimate image by the hosting company occurs only
incidentally through the hosting company's function of providing data
storage space or data caching to a person;
(2) The hosting company does not intentionally engage, aid, or abet in the
distribution of the intimate image; and
(3) The hosting company does not knowingly receive from or through a person
who distributes the intimate image a fee greater than the fee generally
charged by the provider, as a specific condition for permitting the person to
distribute, store, or cache the intimate image.
5. Distribution of an intimate image is a class A misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-17-08. Consent as a defense.

1. When conduct is an offense because it causes or threatens bodily injury, consent to
such conduct or to the infliction of such injury by all persons injured or threatened by
the conduct is a defense if:
a. Neither the injury inflicted nor the injury threatened is such as to jeopardize life or
seriously impair health;
b. The conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of joint
participation in a lawful athletic contest or competitive sport; or
c. The conduct and the injury are reasonably foreseeable hazards of an occupation
or profession or of medical or scientific experimentation conducted by recognized
methods, and the persons subjected to such conduct or injury, having been made
aware of the risks involved, consent to the performance of the conduct or the
infliction of the injury.
2. Assent does not constitute consent, within the meaning of this section, if:
a. It is given by a person who is legally incompetent to authorize the conduct
charged to constitute the offense and such incompetence is manifest or known to
the actor;
b. It is given by a person who by reason of youth, mental disease or defect, or
intoxication is manifestly unable or known by the actor to be unable to make a

reasonable judgment as to the nature or harmfulness of the conduct charged to
constitute the offense; or
c. It is induced by force, duress, or deception.
### § 12.1-17-09. Killing or injury of law enforcement support animal - Definition - Penalty.

1. A person is guilty of a class C felony and is subject to a civil penalty of up to ten
thousand dollars if that person willfully and unjustifiably kills, shoots, tortures,
torments, beats, kicks, strikes, mutilates, disables, or otherwise injures a law
enforcement support animal.
2. A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and is subject to a civil penalty of up to
five thousand dollars if that person willfully:
a. Harasses, taunts, or provokes a law enforcement support animal;
b. Interferes with a law enforcement support animal while the animal is working; or
c. Interferes with the individual handling the animal.
3. For purposes of this section, "law enforcement support animal" means any animal
used by or on behalf of a law enforcement officer in the performance of the officer's
functions and duties, including crowd control, corrections, arson investigation, or
search and rescue, regardless of whether the animal is on or off duty.
4. This section does not apply to a law enforcement officer or a veterinarian who
terminates the life of a law enforcement support animal to relieve the animal of undue
suffering and pain.
### § 12.1-17-10. Hazing - Penalty.

A person is guilty of an offense when, in the course of another person's initiation into or
affiliation with any organization, the person willfully engages in conduct that creates a
substantial risk of physical injury to that other person or a third person. As used in this section,
"conduct" means any treatment or forced physical activity that is likely to adversely affect the
physical health or safety of that other person or a third person, or which subjects that other
person or third person to extreme mental stress, and may include extended deprivation of sleep
or rest or extended isolation, whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, overexposure to
the weather, and forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug, or other substance.
The offense is a class A misdemeanor if the actor's conduct causes physical injury, otherwise
the offense is a class B misdemeanor.
### § 12.1-17-11. Contact by bodily fluids or excrement.

1. An individual is guilty of an offense if the individual causes blood, emesis, excrement,
mucus, saliva, semen, vaginal fluid, or urine to come in contact with:
a. A law enforcement officer acting in the scope of employment;
b. An employee of a correctional facility or the department of corrections and
rehabilitation acting in the scope of employment unless the employee does an act
within the scope of employment which requires or causes the contact;
c. An individual lawfully present in a correctional facility who is not an inmate;
d. An individual lawfully present in the penitentiary or an affiliated facility of the
penitentiary who is not an inmate;
e. An individual transporting an individual who is lawfully detained;
f. A health care facility employee or contractor acting within the scope of
employment unless the employee or contractor is performing an act within the
scope of employment which requires or causes the contact; or
g. An emergency responder, including a licensed medical services provider, law
enforcement officer, firefighter, volunteer firefighter, officer of a nonprofit volunteer
fire department, emergency medical technician, emergency nurse, ambulance
operator, or a provider of civil defense services, who while acting in the scope of
employment is present at a health care facility.
2. Subsection 1 does not apply to a mentally ill person as defined in section 25-03.1-02
who has been detained pursuant to chapter 25-03.1.

3. The offense is a class C felony if the individual knowingly causes the contact and is a
class A misdemeanor if the individual recklessly causes the contact.
4. As used in this section, "health care facility" means an office or institution providing
health care services or treatment of diseases, whether physical, mental, or emotional,
or other medical, physiological, or psychological conditions, including a hospital; clinic;
ambulatory surgery center; outpatient care facility; weight control clinic; nursing home;
basic care or assisted living facility; laboratory; or office of any medical professional
licensed or registered under title 43 or any individual who is included within a specialty
and subspecialty of those fields. The term includes a waiting room, hallway, private
room, semiprivate room, ward, and any mobile or temporary facility.
### § 12.1-17-12. Assault or homicide while fleeing peace officer.

A person is guilty of a class A felony if that person negligently causes the death of another
or a class B felony if that person negligently causes serious bodily injury to another while in
violation of section 39-10-71.
### § 12.1-17-13. Mandated intervention program for domestic violence offenders.

1. As used in this section, "intimate partner" means an offender's spouse, former spouse,
current dating partner, recent former dating partner, or another individual with whom
the offender has a child in common regardless of whether the offender and the
individual are or have been married to each other, are or have been in a dating
relationship with each other, or resided together at any time.
2. The sentence for an offense under section 12.1-17-01, 12.1-17-01.1, 12.1-17-01.2,
12.1-17-02, 12.1-17-03, 12.1-17-04, 12.1-17-05, 12.1-17-07, 12.1-17-07.1, 12.1-18-02,
12.1-18-03, 12.1-21-05, 12.1-21-06.1, 12.1-31.2-02, or 14-07.7-07 against an intimate
partner, must include an order to complete a domestic violence offender assessment
and intervention program as determined by the court. A court may not order the
offender to attend anger management classes or individual counseling unless a
domestic violence offender intervention program is not reasonably available to the
defendant and the court makes findings for the record explaining why an order to
complete a domestic violence offender intervention program would be inappropriate.
3. If an offender who is ordered to complete a domestic violence offender assessment
and intervention program is assessed and determined to be inappropriate for the
program by the program provider, a court may find the order to complete a domestic
violence offender assessment and intervention program to be satisfied or may order
the offender to complete other appropriate programming.
### § 12.1-17-14. Forced or coerced abortion - Penalty.

1. As used in this section:
a. "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug,
or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically
diagnosable intrauterine pregnancy of a woman, including the elimination of one
or more unborn children in a multifetal pregnancy, with knowledge the termination
will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child. The use,
prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:
(1) Save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child;
(2) Remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion; or
(3) Treat a woman for an ectopic pregnancy.
b. "Force or coerce" means committing, attempting to commit, or threatening to
commit physical harm to a woman, the unborn child, or another individual
intended to compel the woman to have an abortion performed against her will.
c. "Threat" means at least one statement, or a course of conduct by the individual,
which places a woman in reasonable apprehension that the individual will follow
through with the statement or act as implied by the individual's course of conduct.

The term does not include constitutionally protected speech or any generalized
statement regarding a lawful pregnancy option.
2. It is a class C felony to force or coerce a woman to have an abortion against her will.
3. Upon the request of the victim, a law enforcement agency investigating a violation of
this section shall notify the victim not less than twenty-four hours before initially
contacting the individual alleged to have committed a violation of this section.
