Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Votes Roundup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate clears package of bills on 988/211 liability, EMS response, digital forensics, estate planning and more — many pass unanimously
Summary
The North Dakota Senate unanimously passed a package of bills advancing protections for crisis-line workers, expanding digital-forensics funding, and updating EMS and estate-planning statutes among other measures.
The North Dakota Senate voted on and approved a package of bills affecting public safety, courts, health care and commercial law. Several measures passed unanimously on final passage with recorded tallies of 47-0.
Key outcomes included:
- Senate Bill 2145 (47-0): Expands civil-immunity protections to employees of 988 crisis hotline and 211 referral services similar to existing 911 protections. Sponsor said the staff are employed by a nonprofit and receive national training.
- Senate Bill 2093 (47-0): Extends an income-tax deduction for qualified retired peace officers and surviving spouses; fiscal note indicated no fiscal impact.
- Senate Bill 2167 (47-0): Creates an Internet Crime Investigation Fund to pay for digital-forensic hardware, software licensing, training and education. The bill imposes a fee of up to $100 on convicted offenders whose crimes involved personal electronic devices; funds are remitted to the State Treasurer and held in a continuing appropriation.
- Senate Bill 2101 (47-0): Codifies an obligation for EMS providers to respond to calls and requires formal plans for mutual aid and coverage when ambulances are unavailable, with stated intent to improve rural response reliability.
- Senate Bill 2127 (47-0): Adopts the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act to authorize electronic signatures and documents for trusts and powers of attorney between consenting parties.
- Senate Bill 2043 (47-0): Allows the Education Standards and Practices Board to immediately and permanently revoke a teaching license upon conviction for crimes against a child or specified offenses, regardless of state or federal jurisdiction.
- Senate Bill 2081 (47-0): Modifies transfer and evaluation procedures so patients evaluated elsewhere may transfer directly to geropsychiatric facilities, reducing duplicate evaluations and aligning transfers with improved patient care.
- Senate Bills 2122 and 2123 (each 47-0): Adopted uniform acts: the Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act and the Uniform Special Deposits Act, intended to provide statutory clarity for receiverships and special-purpose deposit accounts.
- Senate Bill 2126 (47-0): Adopted the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act to give courts tools for preventing domestic and international abductions and enhance cooperation across jurisdictions.
Each measure was described briefly on the floor and then placed to a roll-call vote; recorded tallies for the bills above were 47 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent. Several other bills received committee amendments on the floor earlier in the session.
