North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Dakota House Bill HB1242 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	25.0350.03000
2	2	Sixty-ninth
3	3	Legislative Assembly
4	4	of North Dakota
5	5	Introduced by
6	6	Representatives Frelich, Tveit, Klemin, Vetter, Rohr
7	7	Senators Mathern, Barta, Bekkedahl, Boehm, Powers, Paulson, Van Oosting
8	8	A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact sections 14-09-00.1 and 14-09-29 of the North Dakota
9	9	Century Code, relating to parental rights and responsibilities; and to provide for application.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA:
11	11	SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 14-09-00.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is
12	12	amended and reenacted as follows:
13	13	14-09-00.1. Definitions.
14	14	As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
15	15	1."Decisionmaking responsibility" means the responsibility to make decisions concerning
16	16	the child. The term may refer to decisions on all issues or on specified issues, but not
17	17	child support issues.
18	18	2."Harm" means negative changes in a child's health which occur when an individual
19	19	responsible for the child's welfare:
20	20	a.Inflicts, or allows to be inflicted, upon the child, physical or mental injury, including
21	21	injuries sustained as a result of excessive corporal punishment; or
22	22	b.Commits, allows to be committed, or conspires to commit, against the child, a sex
23	23	offense as defined in chapter 12.1-20.
24	24	3."Parental rights and responsibilities" means all rights and responsibilities a parent has
25	25	concerning the parent's child.
26	26	4."Parenting plan" means a written plan describing each parent's rights and
27	27	responsibilities.
28	28	5."Parenting schedule" means the schedule of when the child is in the care of each
29	29	parent.
30	30	6."Parenting time" means the time when the child is to be in the care of a parent.
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32	32	HOUSE BILL NO. 1242
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58	58	7."Primary residential responsibility" means a parent with more than fifty percent of the
59	59	residential responsibility.
60	60	8."Residential responsibility" means a parent's responsibility to provide a home for the
61	61	child.
62	62	9."Shared decisionmaking responsibility" means each parent has sole responsibility to
63	63	make routine decisions about day-to-day matters during that parent's parenting time
64	64	and all major decisions, including decisions about a day care provider, education,
65	65	extracurricular activities, health care, and spiritual development, must be made jointly.
66	66	10."Shared residential responsibility" means each parent has residential responsibility for
67	67	the child for an equal or approximately equal amount of time, as determined by the
68	68	court.
69	69	SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Section 14-09-29 of the North Dakota Century Code is
70	70	amended and reenacted as follows:
71	71	14-09-29. Parental rights and responsibilities - Best interests and welfare of child -
72	72	Rebuttable presumption.
73	73	1.A court issuing an order that deals with parenting rights and responsibilities of a child
74	74	entered under this chapter shall award the parental rights and responsibilities
75	75	concerning the child to a person, agency, organization, or institution as that will, in the
76	76	opinion of the court, promote the best interests and welfare of the child. Between the
77	77	mother and fatherparents, whether married or unmarried, there is no presumption as
78	78	to whom will better promote the best interests and welfare of the child.
79	79	2.a.Except as provided in subsection 3, or otherwise agreed to by the parties and
80	80	approved by the court, in a proceeding under this chapter to determine residential
81	81	responsibility, including an interim proceeding, there is a presumption that shared
82	82	decisionmaking responsibility and shared residential responsibility is in the best
83	83	interests of the child.
84	84	b.The presumption may be rebutted if a preponderance of the evidence in a
85	85	contested matter establishes that shared decisionmaking responsibility or shared
86	86	residential responsibility:
87	87	(1)May cause harm to the child;
88	88	(2)May endanger the child's physical or emotional health; or
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122	122	(3)Is not feasible because the circumstances of the parents do not allow for a
123	123	parenting schedule that provides for exchanges of the child between
124	124	parents at least every seven days.
125	125	3.The presumption that shared decisionmaking responsibility and shared residential
126	126	responsibility is in the best interests of the child does not apply if:
127	127	a.A domestic violence protection order, disorderly conduct restraining order, or
128	128	other order prohibiting contact has been entered against a parent which prohibits
129	129	or places limitation on contact with the other parent or child at issue in the
130	130	proceeding;
131	131	b.The court finds a parent has perpetrated domestic violence and there exists one
132	132	incident of domestic violence which resulted in serious bodily injury or involved
133	133	the use of a dangerous weapon or there exists a pattern of domestic violence
134	134	within a reasonable time proximate to the proceeding; or
135	135	c.The court finds a parent has sexually abused a child, regardless of whether that
136	136	child is at issue in the proceeding.
137	137	4.In a proceeding in which the presumption is applicable and not rebutted, the court
138	138	shall award each parent shared decisionmaking responsibility and shared residential
139	139	responsibility. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties and approved by the court,
140	140	the court shall construct a parenting time schedule which provides for each parent to
141	141	have residential responsibility of the child for an equal or approximately equal amount
142	142	of time, as determined by the court, and is consistent with ensuring the child's welfare.
143	143	The court may consider the factors under section 14 - 09 - 06.2 when constructing the
144	144	parenting time schedule.
145	145	5.In a proceeding in which the court determines the presumption is not applicable or is
146	146	rebutted, the court shall make specific findings which provide a basis for that
147	147	determination. The court shall consider and evaluate all factors affecting the best
148	148	interests and welfare of the child as provided under section 14 - 09 - 06.2 and construct a
149	149	parenting time schedule which is in the best interests of the child.
150	150	6.If the court finds that a parent has perpetrated domestic violence and that parent does
151	151	not have residential responsibility, and there exists one incident of domestic violence
152	152	which resulted in serious bodily injury or involved the use of a dangerous weapon or
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186	186	there exists a pattern of domestic violence within a reasonable time proximate to the
187	187	proceeding, the court shall allow only supervised parenting time with that parent
188	188	unless there is a showing by clear and convincing evidence that unsupervised
189	189	parenting time would not endanger the child's physical or emotional health.
190	190	3.7.If anya court finds that a parent has sexually abused the parent's child, the court shall
191	191	prohibit contact between the abusive parent and the child until the court finds that the
192	192	abusive parent has successfully completed a treatment program designed for such
193	193	sexual abusers and that supervised parenting time is in the child's best interests.
194	194	Contact between the abusive parent and the child may be allowed only in a
195	195	therapeutic setting, facilitated by a therapist as part of a sexual abuse treatment
196	196	program, and only when the therapist for the abusive parent and the therapist for the
197	197	abused child agree that contact serves a therapeutic purpose and is in the best
198	198	interests of the child.
199	199	4.8.In anya proceeding dealing with parental rights and responsibilities in which a parent is
200	200	found to have perpetrated domestic violence, and there exists one incident of
201	201	domestic violence which resulted in serious bodily injury or involved the use of a
202	202	dangerous weapon or there exists a pattern of domestic violence within a reasonable
203	203	time proximate to the proceeding, all court costs, attorney's fees, evaluation fees, and
204	204	expert witness fees must be paid by the perpetrator of the domestic violence unless
205	205	those costs would place an undue financial hardship on that parent.
206	206	SECTION 3. APPLICATION. The limitations under section 14-09-06.6 on postjudgment
207	207	modifications of primary residential responsibility and under Rule 8.2 of the North Dakota Rules
208	208	of Court on amending an interim order do not apply to the first motion filed in an action on or
209	209	after the effective date of this Act by a moving party seeking a determination of parental rights
210	210	and responsibilities under the presumption and evidentiary burden established by this Act.
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