House passes bills on guardianship updates, controlled substances scheduling, alert system, banking law and digital-forensics fund

The North Dakota House of Representatives on March 14, 2025, approved a set of Senate bills covering guardianship procedures, controlled-substances scheduling, the state's alert notice system, uniform special deposits for financial institutions, and funding for digital forensic work in criminal cases.

Why it matters: The bills affect court procedures in guardianship cases, public-safety alert criteria for missing persons, the state’s controlled-substances schedule, commercial banking practices for special deposits, and a funding mechanism for law enforcement digital investigations.

Votes at a glance

- Senate Bill 2,291 — Guardianship updates: Passed, 86 yeas, 2 nays. The bill updates North Dakota guardianship and conservatorship statutes, expands the list of professionals who may assess capacity to include psychiatrists and psychologists, defines an "alternative resource plan" to encourage community-based alternatives to guardianship, allows courts to extend guardianship by 90 days in some circumstances, requires emergency guardianship hearings within 10 days of a petition, and makes certain guardian-prepared financial accounts confidential. Representative Dobrevitch urged members to "please vote do pass on Senate Bill 2,291 to update North Dakota's guardianship laws." (Final vote recorded.)

- Senate Bill 2,064 — Controlled substances schedule update: Passed, 88 yeas, 0 nays. The Judiciary Committee presented the biennial update to the state controlled-substances schedule to align state law with federal scheduling. Changes noted on the floor included additions of some fentanyl derivatives, synthetic cannabinoids, several stimulant compounds, and changes to anabolic-steroid scheduling; the bill included an emergency clause.

- Senate Bill 2,098 — State alert notice system consolidation: Passed, 88 yeas, 0 nays. The bill consolidates amber, blue and silver alert criteria into one location in the North Dakota Century Code and clarifies and expands criteria for silver alerts for missing vulnerable adults. Floor remarks described a case in which a missing 81-year-old man who lacked a formal medical diagnosis could not secure a silver alert under prior rules; advocates argued the bill would better allow prompt activation when law enforcement determines the person is in grave danger.

- Senate Bill 2,123 — Uniform Special Deposits Act: Passed, 88 yeas, 0 nays. The bill adopts the Uniform Special Deposits Act to provide clarity for special-purpose deposit accounts, protect such deposits from creditors when properly designated, reduce litigation, and allow financial institutions and customers to "opt in" to the statutory scheme.

- Senate Bill 2,167 — Digital forensics cost and Internet Crime Investigation Fund: Passed, 88 yeas, 0 nays. The bill requires convicted defendants to reimburse digital forensic examination costs up to $100 per defendant; fees will flow into an Internet Crime Investigation Fund to pay for hardware, software and training for digital investigations.

What lawmakers said: Sponsors and committee chairs framed most bills as technical updates, committee-driven recommendations, or fixes enacted after stakeholder input or working-group review. Representative Schneider said the alert consolidation was intended to "balance critical alerts and too many lesser emergency alerts" to maintain alert credibility; Representative Volmer described the special-deposits measure as resolving legal uncertainty that kept parties from using special deposits.

Next steps: The bills that passed on final consideration will proceed as required by legislative procedure; Senate Bill 2,064 includes an emergency clause noted on the floor. No additional floor amendments were recorded for these items before final votes.