# Title 11 — Counties

## Chapter 11-15 — Sheriff

### § 11-15-01. Sheriff eligible for two terms only.

Repealed by S.L. 1953, ch. 110, § 2.
### § 11-15-01.1. Sheriff must be qualified elector and must receive required training -

Exception.
Except as otherwise specifically provided by state law, the sheriff must be a qualified elector
in the county in which the sheriff is elected. Within one year after taking office, the sheriff shall
attend the sheriffs' school on civil process for one week, and unless already licensed under
sections 12-63-01 through 12-63-14, shall begin the training necessary to become so licensed.
Within two years after taking office, the sheriff shall complete the procedures required to be
licensed under sections 12-63-01 through 12-63-14.
### § 11-15-02. Sheriff may appoint special deputies - Compensation.

The sheriff may appoint and qualify special deputies in such numbers as are required by the
conditions. Each special deputy shall receive compensation for services rendered and the same
mileage allowance as regular deputies, which must be paid by the county within the limits of
funds budgeted for such purpose. The sheriff shall have the sole power of appointing special
deputies and may remove them at pleasure.
### § 11-15-03. Duties of sheriff.

1. The sheriff shall:
a. Preserve the peace.
b. Arrest and take before the nearest magistrate, or before the magistrate who
issued the warrant, all persons who attempt to commit or who have committed a
public offense.
c. Prevent and suppress all affrays, breaches of the peace, riots, and insurrections
which may come to the sheriff's knowledge.
d. Attend each term of the district court held within the county; obey its lawful orders
and directions; and act as crier thereof and make proclamation of the opening
and adjournment of court and of any other matter under its direction.
e. Command the aid of as many inhabitants of the county as the sheriff may think
necessary in the execution of the sheriff's duties.
f. Take charge of and keep the county jail and the prisoners therein.
g. Endorse upon all notices and process received by the sheriff for service the year,
month, day, hour, and minute of reception, and issue therefor to the person
delivering it, on payment of the sheriff's fees, a certificate showing the names of
the parties, the title of the paper, and the time of its reception.
h. Serve all process or notices in the manner prescribed by law.
i. Certify under the sheriff's hand upon each process or notice the time and manner
of service, or if the sheriff fails to make service, the reasons for failure, and return
the same without delay.
j. Perform such other duties as are required of the sheriff by law.
k. Enforce, personally or through deputies, all statutes defining traffic violations
denominated noncriminal by section 39-06.1-02.
2. The sheriff maintains the powers under subsection 1 throughout the entire state during
a transport or detention under section 29-06-05.3.
### § 11-15-03.1. Salary of county sheriff.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 87, § 2.
### § 11-15-04. Sheriff to execute all process.


A sheriff shall execute all process and orders regular on their face and issued by competent
authority, whatever may be the defect in the proceeding upon which they were issued.
### § 11-15-05. To exhibit process.

The sheriff executing any process, at all times, so long as the sheriff retains it, must show
the same, upon request, with all papers attached, to any person interested therein.
### § 11-15-06. Duty of sheriff to serve papers in civil action - When coroner to perform

duties of sheriff.
Whenever, pursuant to the laws of this state, the sheriff is required to serve or execute any
summons, order, or judgment, or to do any other act, the sheriff shall be bound to do so in like
manner as upon process issued to the sheriff and shall be liable equally in all respects for
neglect of duty. If the sheriff is a party, the coroner shall be bound to perform the service, as the
coroner is bound to execute process when the sheriff is a party. The provisions of title 28
relating to the sheriff shall apply to coroners when the sheriff is a party.
### § 11-15-07. County fees.

The sheriff shall charge and collect the following fees on behalf of the county:
1. For serving a summons, writ of attachment, writ of execution, subpoena, notice of
motion, or other notice or order of the court, order of replevin, injunctional order,
citation, or any other mesne process and making a return thereon, in addition to the
actual incurred costs of postage and long-distance telephone calls a total of thirty
dollars for each person served.
2. For making a return of not-found, thirty dollars.
3. For taking and filing a bond in claim and delivery or any other undertaking to be
furnished and approved by the sheriff, twenty dollars.
4. For making a copy of any process, bond, or paper, other than as is herein provided,
two dollars per page.
5. For levying or executing any writ, fifty dollars.
6. For calling an inquest to appraise any goods and chattels that the sheriff may be
required to have appraised, twenty-five dollars, and each appraiser is entitled to
receive one hundred dollars to be taxed as costs.
7. For advertising a sale by means of a sheriff's notice of sale, in addition to any
publishing fees, twenty dollars.
8. For making a deed to land sold on execution or under an order of sale, twenty dollars.
9. For issuing a certificate of redemption when property has been redeemed from a sale
under execution or upon the foreclosure of a mortgage, twenty dollars.
10. For selling real or personal property under foreclosure of any lien or mortgage,
seventy-five dollars.
11. For boarding prisoners, a sum to be determined by the board of county
commissioners, by resolution in advance, which sum must be per meal for meals
actually served, and may not be less than two dollars for breakfast, two dollars and
fifty cents for dinner, and three dollars and fifty cents for supper.
### § 11-15-08. Commissions collected by sheriff.

1. Except as provided in section 11-15-09, the sheriff is entitled to collect commissions on
behalf of the county on all moneys received and disbursed by the sheriff on an
execution, order of sale, order of attachment, requisition in claim and delivery, or
decree for the sale of real or personal property as follows:
a. On the first one thousand dollars, seventy-five dollars.
b. On all moneys in excess of one thousand dollars, two percent for personal
property and one percent for real property.
2. Except as provided in subsection 3, if no sale is held under subsection 1, the sheriff
may not collect a commission.

3. If personal property is taken by the sheriff on an execution, under a requisition in claim
and delivery, or under a writ of attachment and applied in satisfaction of the debt
without sale, the sheriff is entitled to collect the commission specified in subsection 1
based upon the appraised value of the property. The sheriff shall deliver the
commissions to the county treasurer under section 11-15-14.
### § 11-15-09. Allowances when plaintiff bids in property at sale.

When the person in whose favor an execution or order of sale has been issued by the court
bids in the property sold under the execution or pursuant to the judgment, the sheriff or other
person making the sale shall collect on behalf of the county either of the following fees, and no
more:
1. When the amount for which the property is bid on does not exceed one thousand
dollars, forty dollars.
2. When the amount for which the property is bid on exceeds one thousand dollars,
seventy-five dollars.
### § 11-15-10. Fees in county court.

Repealed by S.L. 1991, ch. 326, § 203.
### § 11-15-11. Sheriff's expense of preserving property - Approval of court required.

Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the sheriff shall receive the actual expense incurred
for taking, transporting, keeping possession of, and preserving property taken under an
attachment, execution, or other process. No keeper is entitled to receive more than five dollars
per day. Property may not be placed in charge of a keeper unless the property cannot be stored
safely and securely, nor unless there is reasonable danger of loss to the property, nor unless the
property is of a character as to require the personal attention and supervision of a keeper. The
sheriff may require the person in whose favor the attachment, execution, or other process was
issued to pay, or to provide security for, in advance, all expenses actually incurred in the taking,
keeping, transporting, or preserving the property.
### § 11-15-12. Sheriff's mileage.

A sheriff or deputy, for each mile [1.61 kilometers] actually and necessarily traveled within
this state in the performance of official duties, is entitled to reimbursement for mileage expenses
in accordance with section 11-10-15.
### § 11-15-13. Fees to be endorsed on process.

When a sheriff or other officer serves a summons, subpoena, bench warrant, venire, or
other process in any action to which the state or any county is a party, the officer shall endorse
upon the writ or process, or upon a paper attached thereto, at the time the officer makes the
return of service thereon, a statement of the officer's fees for the service, the number of miles
traveled, and the amount of the officer's mileage. If the officer fails to make the return with the
statement and does not file the return with the clerk of the court from which the process issued
before judgment is rendered in the action to which the process relates, the officer shall receive
no fees for such service, and the board of county commissioners of the county shall not allow
the same.
### § 11-15-14. Sheriff's fees collectible in advance - Report of fees - Mileage in criminal

cases.
In civil actions, the sheriff shall collect the sheriff's fees in advance. Upon a request for
cancellation of a civil action, the sheriff may retain up to twenty dollars of the collected fee. At
the expiration of each month, the sheriff shall make a report, verified by the sheriff's affidavit, to
the board of county commissioners showing all fees earned and collected during that month and
shall transfer those fees to the county treasurer. The sheriff shall maintain a complete record of
all fees due to the sheriff's office for services rendered in criminal actions and shall file the
sheriff's itemized statement for mileage in connection with criminal cases with the county auditor

at the expiration of each month. Claims for mileage in criminal cases shall be audited by the
board of county commissioners and paid by the county.
### § 11-15-15. Penalties for not reporting or turning over fees.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.
### § 11-15-16. Return prima facie evidence of facts stated therein.

The return of the sheriff upon any process or notice is prima facie evidence of the facts
stated in such return.
### § 11-15-17. Liability for failure to execute process.

Except as otherwise provided by law or order of the court, if the sheriff to whom a writ of
execution or attachment is delivered neglects or refuses to levy upon or sell any property of the
party charged in the writ which is liable to be levied upon or sold, which has been made known
to the sheriff by the judgment creditor or the creditor's attorney, the sheriff is liable to the creditor
for all damages sustained by the creditor. The sheriff is not liable if the sheriff has not levied
upon or sold property, when the sheriff's failure to act was the result of following the directions or
orders of the creditor or the creditor's agent or attorney.
### § 11-15-18. Liability for failure to make return.

Except as otherwise provided by law or order of the court, if the sheriff does not return a
notice or process with the necessary endorsement thereon without delay, or within the time limit
required by law, the sheriff is liable to the party aggrieved for all damages sustained by that
party.
### § 11-15-19. Liability for failure to pay over money.

Except as otherwise provided by law or order of the court, if the sheriff neglects or refuses
to pay over on demand to the persons entitled thereto any money which came into the sheriff's
hands by virtue of the sheriff's office, after deducting the sheriff's fees, expenses, or
commissions as authorized by law or the court, the sheriff is liable to the party aggrieved for all
damages sustained by that party.
### § 11-15-20. When sheriff not liable for rescue or escape.

An action cannot be maintained against the sheriff for a rescue, or for an escape of a
person arrested upon an execution or commitment, if, after the person's rescue or escape and
before the commencement of the action, the prisoner returns to the jail or is retaken by the
sheriff.
### § 11-15-21. Service of papers other than process on sheriff.

Service of a paper, other than a process, may be made upon the sheriff by delivering it to
the sheriff, to one of the sheriff's deputies, or to a person in charge of the office during office
hours, or, if no such person is there, by leaving it in a conspicuous place in the office.
### § 11-15-22. Service of process on sheriff.

In all actions or proceedings to which the sheriff is a party, by virtue of office or otherwise,
the coroner or other peace officer of the county may serve all necessary process on the sheriff
and make return thereon, and the return of the officer making service has the same credit as a
sheriff's return. The officer shall receive the same fees as a sheriff receives for like services.
### § 11-15-23. Liability of sheriff for appropriating deputy's salary.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.

### § 11-15-24. Transportation of prisoner.

The sheriff of each county shall conduct to the penitentiary all persons convicted in the
county and sentenced to be confined in the penitentiary as soon as may be after conviction. The
sheriff may conduct patients to the state hospital when directed to do so by the district court.
### § 11-15-25. Fees for transporting persons committed to custody of department of

corrections and rehabilitation or state hospital.
A sheriff or the sheriff's deputy shall receive for transporting persons committed to the
custody of the department of corrections and rehabilitation or to the state hospital the mileage
prescribed in this chapter. The sheriff or deputy shall utilize the least expensive method of
transportation, and the mileage allowed must be based only upon the use of the least expensive
method of transportation and may be paid only after the filing with the county auditor of an
itemized statement verified by affidavit showing the mileage traveled, the manner in which
traveled, the days traveled, and the purpose of the travel and showing that the method of travel
was the least expensive method of transportation. The county auditor shall submit the statement
and affidavit to the board of county commissioners. The county auditor may not pay the claim
until the claim is approved by the board.
### § 11-15-25.1. Fees for transporting persons who have escaped or violated probation.

A sheriff or a sheriff's deputy shall receive the expenses incurred in the return of any person
who has escaped from a state facility. Those expenses must be paid in amounts as provided by
law for state officials, except that the mileage paid must be that regularly paid to the sheriff and
the sheriff's deputies. If the person to be returned is a prisoner of a state facility or is ordered
returned by a district court judge, the mileage and expenses must be paid by the state.
### § 11-15-26. Sheriff to deliver commitment papers to warden and receive receipt for

prisoner.
The sheriff shall deliver a person sentenced to be confined in the penitentiary to the warden
of the penitentiary together with a certified copy of the judgment and sentence of the court
ordering the imprisonment. The warden shall deliver to the sheriff a receipt in which the warden
acknowledges the delivery to the sheriff of the prisoner, naming the prisoner. The sheriff shall
return such receipt to the clerk of the court in which the conviction and sentence were had, and
the clerk shall file and retain the same in the clerk's office.
### § 11-15-27. General powers of county constable - Fees.

Repealed by S.L. 1985, ch. 151, § 35.
### § 11-15-28. Sheriff prohibited from collecting notes - Penalty.

No sheriff, deputy sheriff, or employee in the sheriff's office, while holding such office or
employment, may accept for collection, collect, or attempt to collect from any person, firm, or
association within the county for pay, profit, or remuneration any note, account, or claim of any
nature or description except as required in the performance of the duties of office. Any violation
of the provisions of this section constitutes an infraction.
### § 11-15-29. Uniform for sheriffs and sheriffs' deputies.

The board of county commissioners in each county shall provide funding of at least three
hundred fifty dollars per individual per year for uniforms for the sheriff and each sheriff's deputy.
The sheriff may expend the funds for uniforms as the sheriff deems necessary and is not limited
to an annual amount that may be expended for each uniform or for each individual.
### § 11-15-30. Standard uniform established.

The attorney general with the advice of interested parties and associations shall prescribe a
standard uniform for sheriffs and full-time deputy sheriffs.

### § 11-15-31. Uniform surrendered upon termination of employment.

The uniforms and parts thereof purchased by the board of county commissioners must be
returned to the sheriff's office upon termination of employment of each sheriff and sheriff's
deputy.
### § 11-15-32. Issuance of civil protection orders - Duty of sheriff.

The sheriff shall notify the bureau of criminal investigation of any civil protection order
issued against an individual in the sheriff's county under chapter 14-07.7 within twenty-four
hours of issuance. The notice must include any information required by the bureau of criminal
investigation. The law enforcement agency shall enter the order into any information system
available in the state that is used to list outstanding warrants for one year or until the date of
expiration or termination as specified in the order. The order is enforceable in any jurisdiction in
this state.
### § 11-15-33. County law enforcement officer - Jurisdiction - Fresh pursuit.

1. A county law enforcement officer employed by a county has jurisdiction within that
county and up to one thousand five hundred feet [457.2 meters] outside the county.
2. A county law enforcement officer in fresh pursuit may enter another county and may
continue within that county in fresh pursuit to make an arrest, in compliance with a
warrant or without a warrant under the conditions of section 29-06-15, if obtaining the
aid of law enforcement officers having jurisdiction in that county would cause a delay
permitting escape. As used in this section, "fresh pursuit" means fresh pursuit as
defined in section 29-06-07.
3. The jurisdiction limits in subsection 1 do not apply to a county law enforcement officer
acting pursuant to a joint powers agreement with another jurisdiction.
