Statute in Full:
TITLE 11. COUNTIES. CHAPTER 11-11. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
11-11-14 Powers of board of county commissioners. (For dog related powers see Sec. 22)
TITLE 20.1. GAME, FISH, PREDATORS, AND BOATING. CHAPTER 20.1-04. BIRDS, REGULATIONS.
20.1-04-12 When gun dogs not to be trained or permitted to run loose -- Exceptions -- Penalty.
TITLE 20.1. GAME, FISH, PREDATORS, AND BOATING. CHAPTER 20.1-05. BIG GAME ANIMALS, REGULATIONS.
20.1-05-02.1 Unattended dogs harassing or killing big game animals.
TITLE 23. HEALTH AND SAFETY. CHAPTER 23-36. RABIES CONTROL.
23-36-01 Definitions.
23-36-02 Policy - Local authority.
23-36-03 Enforcement authority.
23-36-04 Administrative search warrant.
23-36-05 Assistance of state and local agencies.
23-36-06 Payment for postexposure treatment.
23-36-07 Penalty for violation of order or interference.
23-36-08 Limitation on liability.
23-36-09 Owner's responsibility.
TITLE 36. LIVESTOCK. CHAPTER 36-21. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
36-21-10 Dogs, wolves, and coyotes worrying livestock or poultry may be killed.
36-21-11 Owners of dogs liable for damages done to livestock -- Procedure when damages done by pack of dogs.
TITLE 40. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTER 40-05. POWERS OF MUNICIPALITIES.
40-05-01 Powers of all municipalities. (For dog related powers, see Secs. 42, 44, and 47)
40-05-02 Additional powers of city council and board of city commissioners. (For dog related powers, see Sec. 22).
40-05-19 City tax levy for animal shelters -- Sterilization of animals.
TITLE 42. NUISANCES. CHAPTER 42-03. DOGS AS PUBLIC NUISANCE.
42-03-01 When dogs are a public nuisance.
42-03-02 Owner of dog not known.
42-03-03 Hearing -- Judgment -- Execution.
42-03-04 Costs.
TITLE 43. OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS. CHAPTER 43-29. VETERINARIANS.
43-29-16.1 Abandonment of animals by owner.
TITLE 11. COUNTIES. CHAPTER 11-11. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
11-11-14 Powers of board of county commissioners. (For dog related powers see Sec. 22)
The board of county commissioners shall have the following powers:
1. To institute and prosecute civil actions for and on behalf of the county and in its name.
2. To make all orders respecting property of the county.
3. To levy a tax not exceeding the amount authorized by law.
4. To control the finances, to contract debts and borrow money, to make payments of debts and expenses, to establish charges for any county or other services, and to control the property of the county.
5. To construct and repair bridges and to open, lay out, vacate, and change highways in the cases provided by law. But the board may not contract for the construction of bridges costing more than one hundred dollars without first complying with the provisions of chapter 24-08.
6. To establish election precincts in the county in areas outside the boundaries of incorporated cities except as provided in chapter 16.1-04.
7. To equalize the assessments of the county in the manner provided by law.
8. To furnish to the county officers the necessary telephone, postage, telephone and telegraph tolls, and all other things necessary and incidental to the performance of the duties of their respective offices to be paid out of the county treasury.
9. To furnish a fireproof safe in which to keep all the books, records, vouchers, and papers pertaining to the business of the board.
10. To dispose of property of the county in the manner provided in chapter 11- 27.
11. To purchase lands in lieu of those sold.
12. To grant to any person the right of way for the erection of telephone lines, electric light systems, water or wastewater systems, or gas or oil pipeline systems over, under, or upon public grounds, county streets, roads, or highways.
13. To establish a garbage and trash collection system encompassing all or any part of the territory of the county. The words "garbage and trash collection system" include the operation and maintenance of one or more sanitary landfill sites, or other types of processing sites for the disposal of trash and garbage. The board may operate such system in cooperation with any one or more political subdivisions of this or any other state in accordance with chapter 54-40. The board may borrow money by issuing certificates of indebtedness, repayable from fees or special assessments, or both, which may be charged to the proper parcels of land or to persons receiving the direct benefits of the garbage and trash collection system, or repayable in such other manner as may be provided by law, in order to purchase the initial equipment and land necessary for operation of the system. If the board resolves to establish such a system, the expenses of establishing, operating, and maintaining it may be financed by fees charged to persons receiving direct benefits or by special assessment against the parcels of land properly charged therewith, or by both such fees and assessments. The assessment may be made, published, altered, appealed from, and confirmed under the procedures set forth in chapter 11-28.1.
14. To maintain, in its discretion, all public roads and private highways and roads that are being used as part of regularly scheduled public schoolbus routes.
15. To expend county funds for the purpose of participating in an organization of county governments pursuant to section 11-10-24. This subsection does not authorize a mill levy, and the limitations embodied in section 57-15-06 apply to expenditures under this subsection, which expenditures shall be from the county general fund.
16. To expend county funds to finance in part or entirely for county employees a group insurance program for hospital benefits, medical benefits or life insurance, and a group retirement program through either the state retirement program or a private company.
17. To do and perform any other duties prescribed by law.
18. To loan or grant money to and secure a mortgage from individuals, associations, corporations, or limited liability companies and to purchase ownership shares in corporations, limited liability companies, or other business associations as provided through the procedures established by the state's community development block grant program established pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 [Pub. L. 93-383; 88 Stat. 633; 42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.]. This power applies to all community development block grant transactions of the board of county commissioners, including any transactions prior to July 1, 1987. The county is not lending its funds or extending its credit to any individual, association, or organization under this subsection and no general liability on the part of the county is incurred.
19. To license, tax, and regulate pawnbrokers outside of municipalities.
20. To acquire by lease, purchase, gift, condemnation, or other lawful means and to hold in its name for use and control as provided by law, both real and personal property and easements and rights of way within the county for all purposes authorized by law or necessary to the exercise of any power granted.
21. To participate and enact or adopt ordinances and resolutions necessary for participation in the nation's historic preservation program as a certified local government, as provided for under 36 CFR 61.6.
22. To regulate the confinement and control of dogs, cats, and other household pets, provided the regulations do not conflict with rules adopted by the state board of animal health.
Source: Pol. C. 1877, ch. 21, §§ 28, 29; R.C. 1895, §§ 1905, 1906; S.L. 1899, ch. 59, § 1; R.C. 1899, §§ 1905, 1906; R.C. 1905, §§ 2399, 2400; S.L. 1907, ch. 67, § 1; 1911, ch. 115; C.L. 1913, §§ 3273 to 3275; S.L. 1937, ch. 123, § 1; R.C. 1943, § 11-1114; S.L. 1955, ch. 112; 1957 Supp., § 11-1114; S.L. 1967, ch. 158, § 3; 1969, ch. 208, § 1; 1971, ch. 123, §§ 1, 2; 1973, ch. 89, § 1; 1975, ch. 91, § 2; 1975, ch. 92, § 2; 1977, ch. 90, § 1; 1977, ch. 91, § 1; 1979, ch. 162, § 1; 1983, ch. 82, § 10; 1985, ch. 158, § 1; 1985, ch. 236, § 1; 1985, ch. 453, § 1; 1987, ch. 145, § 1; 1989, ch. 144, § 1; 1989, ch. 145, §§ 1, 2; 1993, ch. 54, § 106; 1993, ch. 96, § 1; 1995, ch. 110, § 1; 1999, ch. 101, § 1; 2003, ch. 48, § 5.
TITLE 20.1. GAME, FISH, PREDATORS, AND BOATING. CHAPTER 20.1-04. BIRDS, REGULATIONS.
20.1-04-12 When gun dogs not to be trained or permitted to run loose -- Exceptions -- Penalty.
No person, classified as a professional trainer, between April first and July fourteenth of each year, both dates inclusive, may train or run any gun dog or allow any such dog to run loose. For purposes of this section, a professional trainer is any person who trains any breed of gun dog for remuneration which is the basis for the person's livelihood. This section does not prohibit the running of gun dog field trials, nor does this section prohibit the training of an individual's personal gun dog during that period provided that:
1. Landowner permission is secured by the trainer;
2. The trainer is present;
3. No native game birds are killed or captured; and
4. The training is not on a designated game management area or designated waterfowl production area.
Any person who violates this section is guilty of a class 2 noncriminal offense.
Source: S.L. 1973, ch. 202, § 11; 1975, ch. 211, § 2; 1985, ch. 272, § 15.
TITLE 20.1. GAME, FISH, PREDATORS, AND BOATING. CHAPTER 20.1-05. BIG GAME ANIMALS, REGULATIONS.
20.1-05-02.1 Unattended dogs harassing or killing big game animals.
Any district game warden may kill any unattended dog harassing or killing big game. No action for damages may be maintained against the person for the killing.
Source: S.L. 1979, ch. 307, § 1.
TITLE 23. HEALTH AND SAFETY. CHAPTER 23-36. RABIES CONTROL.
23-36-01 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
1. "Bite" means any penetration of the skin by an animal's teeth.
2. "Clinical symptoms of rabies" means physical signs or symptoms or animal behavior that would lead a reasonably prudent veterinarian to conclude that a diagnosis of possible rabies is indicated.
3. "Confinement" means separation of an animal from humans, other than the owner, caretaker, a member of the owner's family, or the caretaker's employees, and from other animals, by means of a building, cage, fence, pen, or other secure enclosure that restricts the animal's movement within definite boundaries and prevents the animal from exiting the enclosure.
4. "Department" means the state department of health.
5. "Domestic animal" means any dog [canis familiaris], cat [felis domestica], horse, mule, bovine animal, sheep, goat, bison, llama, alpaca, swine, or captive-bred, currently vaccinated ferret.
6. "Emergency" means a situation in which an immediate search and seizure of an animal is necessary and authorized by section 8 of article I of the Constitution of North Dakota and the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States because of a risk of death or serious bodily injury to a human or another animal.
7. "Exposure to rabies" means any bite or scratch, and includes any nonbite contact of an individual with an animal, animal tissue, or fluids that are defined as an exposure to rabies by the federal advisory committee on immunization practices referred to in Public Law No. 103-66 [107 Stat. 636, 642; 42 U.S.C. 1396s(e)].
8. "Impound" means quarantining an animal at a public pound or an animal facility of a licensed veterinarian.
9. "Law enforcement officer" has the meaning of that term as set forth in section 12.1-01-04.
10. "Quarantine" means confinement in a fixed area that keeps a possibly rabid animal secure and isolated from all other animals so there is no reasonable possibility of rabies being mechanically transmitted from the confined area.
11. "Vaccinated animal" means an animal that has been vaccinated in compliance with the compendium of animal rabies control issued by the national association of state public health veterinarians.
12. "Wild mammal" means any animal of the order mammalia which is not a domestic animal and includes any hybrid of a domestic animal and a mammal regardless of whether the animal is:
a. Wildlife as defined in section 20.1-01-02; or
b. Held in private ownership.
Source: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-02 Policy - Local authority.
1. The department shall establish a rabies control program that must place primary emphasis on human exposure to rabies.
2. The department shall consider national peer-reviewed recommendations for the control of rabies during the development of the department's rabies control program.
3. This chapter may not be construed to limit the authority of any local agency to control or prevent rabies, and, upon request, the department may assist any local agency in rabies control and prevention activities, but the fact that possible rabies exposure is subject to a local ordinance does not limit the department's authority under this chapter.
4. This chapter may not be construed to limit a law enforcement officer's ability to immediately seize, humanely kill, and request the testing of an animal for rabies if emergency circumstances exist that endanger human health or safety.
Source: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-03 Enforcement authority.
1. The department, or an agency acting on the department's behalf, may promptly seize and humanely kill, impound at the owner's expense, or quarantine any animal if the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, has probable cause to believe the animal presents clinical symptoms of rabies.
2. The department, or an agency acting on the department's behalf, may promptly seize and humanely kill, impound at the owner's expense, or quarantine any wild mammal that is not currently vaccinated for rabies by a vaccine approved for use on that species by the national association of state public health veterinarians, inc., or any stray or unwanted domestic animal, if the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, determines the animal is a threat to human life or safety due to the possible exposure of an individual to rabies.
3. The department, or an agency acting on the department's behalf, may promptly seize and quarantine, or impound at the owner's expense, any dog, cat, or currently vaccinated ferret for a period of ten days, or any other domestic animal for a period not exceeding six months, if the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, determines the animal is a threat to human life or safety due to the possible exposure of an individual to rabies.
4. If an animal is humanely killed under this section, then at the request of the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, the animal's brain must be tested for rabies by the state microbiology laboratory of the department if there is possible human exposure to rabies and by the North Dakota veterinary diagnostic laboratory in any other case.
5. If an animal that has bitten or otherwise exposed an individual or another animal is not seized for testing, a law enforcement officer with jurisdiction over the place where the animal is located may determine whether to impound or quarantine the animal under subsection 3 and which method of confinement to use.
6. A licensed veterinarian shall examine, at the owner's expense, a confined animal on the first and last day of the animal's confinement and, at the request of the department or a local public health unit, at any other time during confinement.
Source: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-04 Administrative search warrant.
Except in the case of an emergency, the department, or another state or local agency acting on the department's behalf, may seize an animal located on private property only as authorized by an administrative search warrant issued under chapter 29-29.1. A warrant to seize an animal under this section must include a request to quarantine, impound, or humanely kill and test the animal.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-05 Assistance of state and local agencies.
If a warrant is issued under section 23-36-04 and upon written request of the department, the game and fish department, the state veterinarian, or the wildlife services program of the United States department of agriculture animal and plant health inspection service shall provide assistance to the department in any action to seize, impound, quarantine, or test an animal suspected of having rabies or that has possibly exposed an individual to rabies, and shall carry out any other preventive measures the department requests. For purposes of this section, a request from the department means only a request for assistance as to a particular and singular suspicion of exposure to rabies and does not constitute a continuous request for assistance.
The duty of the game and fish department to cooperate and provide assistance under this section is limited to cases involving a wild mammal and is applicable only if no other agency is available for law enforcement or animal control services.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-06 Payment for postexposure treatment.
The department may provide, at no cost, rabies postexposure vaccine to an individual possibly exposed to rabies if the department determines the individual is financially unable to pay for the postexposure vaccine treatment.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-07 Penalty for violation of order or interference.
A person is guilty of an infraction if the person:
1. Conceals, releases, or removes an animal from the place where the animal is located with intent to impair that animal's availability for seizure under that warrant or order while the person is under the belief that a search warrant or judicial order is pending or is about to be issued for the seizure of an animal;
2. Fails to impound or quarantine an animal for the period and at the place specified after having been ordered to impound or quarantine the animal; or
3. Recklessly hinders any state or local official in any pending or prospective action to seize, impound, quarantine, or test an animal under this chapter.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-08 Limitation on liability.
Subject to any other requirements of section 32-12.2-02, the owner of an animal may bring a claim for money damages, and may recover an amount up to the replacement value of the animal, if the owner establishes that before the animal was seized and tested for rabies under this chapter, the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, knew or recklessly failed to determine that the animal, at the time of the exposure, was lawfully owned and licensed and that:
1. The animal was a wild mammal, and, at the time of the exposure, was currently vaccinated with a vaccine approved for use on an animal of that species by the national association of state public health veterinarians, inc.;
2. The animal had not bitten, scratched, or otherwise possibly exposed a person to rabies; or
3. The animal was a domestic animal and there was not probable cause to believe the animal was rabid.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
23-36-09 Owner's responsibility.
1. The owner of an animal is liable for the cost of quarantine and veterinary services, and for the cost of any postexposure treatment received by an individual who is possibly exposed to rabies by the owner's animal, if the animal is not:
a. Licensed or registered as required by any state or local law or rule applicable to that species; or
b. Confined or vaccinated as required by any state or local law or rule applicable to that species.
2. This section may not be construed to limit any other liability of an animal owner for injury or damage caused by the owner's animal.
SOURCE: S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1.
TITLE 36. LIVESTOCK. CHAPTER 36-21. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
36-21-10 Dogs, wolves, and coyotes worrying livestock or poultry may be killed.
Any person may kill any dog, wolf, or coyote kept as a domestic animal:
1. When he sees such animal in the act of killing, chasing, worrying, or damaging any livestock or poultry; or
2. When he discovers such animal under circumstances which satisfactorily show that recently it has been engaged in killing or chasing sheep.
A person who kills any dog, wolf, or coyote under conditions specified in this section is not liable in any civil action to the owner of such animal.
Source: S.L. 1890, ch. 155, § 9; R.C. 1895, § 1569; R.C. 1899, § 1569; R.C. 1905, § 1957; C.L. 1913, § 2641; S.L. 1939, ch. 13, § 1; R.C. 1943, § 36-2110.
36-21-11 Owners of dogs liable for damages done to livestock -- Procedure when damages done by pack of dogs.
The owner of any dog which kills, wounds, or chases any sheep or other domestic animal or poultry belonging to another person is liable to such other person for all damages caused thereby. If one or more of several dogs which are owned by different persons participates in the killing, wounding, or chasing of sheep or other domestic animals or poultry while running together, the owners of the respective dogs so running together may be sued jointly, and a joint verdict and judgment may be rendered against the owners of such dogs. If one or more of the defendants pays such a joint judgment, the payor or payors may have contribution from the defendants who have not paid in an appropriate action in which the respective damages committed by the several dogs running together may be prorated. No exemption is allowed to any person against whom a judgment is entered under the provisions of this section.
Source: S.L. 1890, ch. 155, § 8; R.C. 1895, § 1570; R.C. 1899, § 1570; R.C. 1905, §§ 1958, 1959; C.L. 1913, §§ 2642, 2643; S.L. 1927, ch. 252, § 1; R.C. 1943, § 36-2111.
TITLE 40. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTER 40-05. POWERS OF MUNICIPALITIES.
40-05-01 Powers of all municipalities. (For dog related powers, see Secs. 42, 44, and 47)
The governing body of a municipality shall have the power:
1. Ordinances. To enact or adopt all such ordinances, resolutions, and regulations, not repugnant to the constitution and laws of this state, as may be proper and necessary to carry into effect the powers granted to such municipality or as the general welfare of the municipality may require, and to repeal, alter, or amend the same. The governing body of a municipality may adopt by ordinance the conditions, provisions, and terms of a building code, a fire prevention code, a plumbing code, an electrical code, a sanitary code, vehicle traffic code, or any other standard code which contains rules and regulations printed as a code in book or pamphlet form by reference to such code or portions thereof alone without setting forth in said ordinance the conditions, provisions, limitations, and terms of such code. When all or part of any such code has been incorporated by reference into any ordinance, it has the same force and effect as though it had been spread at large in such ordinance without further or additional posting or publication. A copy of such standard code or portion thereof shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the city auditor of such municipality prior to adoption. The adoption of any such standard code by reference shall be construed to incorporate such amendments thereto as may be made therein from time to time, and such copy of such standard code so filed shall at all times be kept current in the office of the city auditor of such municipality. The adoption of any such code or codes heretofore by any municipality is hereby validated. Fines, penalties, and forfeitures for the violation thereof may be provided within the limits specified in this chapter notwithstanding that such offense may be punishable also as a public offense under the laws of this state.
2. Finances and property. To control the finances, to make payment of its debts and expenses, to contract debts and borrow money, to establish charges for any city or other services, and to control the property of the corporation.
3. Appropriation. To appropriate money for corporate purposes only, and to provide for the payment of debts and expenses of the corporation.
4. Tax levy. To levy and collect taxes on real and personal property for general and special purposes.
5. Borrowing money. To borrow money on the credit of the corporation for corporation purposes and to issue bonds therefor as limited and provided by title 21.
6. Refunding obligations. To issue bonds in place of or to supply means to meet maturing bonds, or for the consolidation or funding of bonds or any floating indebtedness of the municipality in the manner provided in title 21.
7. Certificates of indebtedness. To borrow money in anticipation of revenues to be derived from taxes already levied as provided and limited in title 21.
8. Streets, sidewalks, and public grounds. To lay out, establish, open, alter, repair, clean, widen, vacate, grade, pave, park, or otherwise improve and regulate the use of streets, alleys, avenues, sidewalks, crossings, and public grounds, and to acquire, construct, maintain, and operate parking lots and facilities for motor vehicles; to regulate or prevent any practice having a tendency to annoy persons frequenting the same; and to prevent and regulate obstructions and encroachments upon the same.
9. Powers relating to parks - Planting grass and trees - Powers respecting parks. To regulate the planting of trees and grass on boulevards, berms, parks, parkways, and public grounds, and to exercise the same powers as are granted to a board of park commissioners respecting the parks of the municipality, if any, until the municipality has been organized into a park district.
10. Lighting of public places. To provide for the lighting of streets, alleys, avenues, parks, and public grounds.
11. Lights to inhabitants of city. To provide for the furnishing of lights to the inhabitants of the city.
12. Gas and water mains - Sewers - Electric light and gas plants. To regulate the laying of gas or water mains and pipes, and the building, laying, or repairing of sewers, tunnels, and drains, and the erecting of gas and electric light plants. Any company or association of persons organized for the purpose of manufacturing illuminating gas or electricity to supply municipalities and the inhabitants thereof shall have authority, subject to existing rights, with the consent of the governing body of the municipality, to erect gas or electric light works and lay down pipes and string wires or poles in streets or alleys subject to such regulations as the municipality may prescribe by ordinance.
13. Structures under sidewalks - Snow and obstructions. To regulate the use of all structures under sidewalks and to require the owner or occupant of any premises to keep the sidewalks in front of or along such premises free from snow or other obstruction.
14. Streets - Cleanliness of and injury to. To regulate and prevent the throwing or depositing of ashes, offal, dirt, garbage, or any offensive matter in, and to prevent injury to, any street, avenue, alley, or public ground.
15. Curbs and gutters. To provide for and regulate curbs and gutters.
16. Advertising and obstructions in public places. To regulate and prevent the use of streets, sidewalks, and public grounds for signs, signposts, awnings, telegraph and telephone poles, posting handbills and advertisements, the exhibition or carrying of banners, placards, advertisements, or handbills, and the flying of flags, banners, or signs across the streets or from houses.
17. Traffic and sales in public places. To regulate traffic and sales upon the streets, sidewalks, and public places.
18. Speed of vehicles and locomotives. To regulate the speed of vehicles and locomotives within the corporate limits of the corporation, except that the speed limit for vehicles on those streets designated as part of any state highway shall be determined by mutual agreement with the director of the department of transportation.
19. Numbering lots. To regulate the numbering of houses and lots.
20. Naming streets. To name and change the name of any street, avenue, alley, or other public place.
21. Railroad companies - Ditches and rights of way. To require railroad companies to make, keep open, and repair ditches, drains, sewers, and culverts along and under their tracks so that filthy and stagnant pools of water cannot stand on their grounds or right of way and so that the natural or artificial drainage of adjacent property shall not be impeded. To require railroad companies to fence their respective railroads or any portion of the same and construct cattle guards and public roads and keep the same in repair within the limits of the corporation.
22. Extending ways and pipes over railroad property. To extend by condemnation, subject to chapter 32-15, or otherwise any street, alley, or highway over, under, or across, or to construct or lay any sewer, water pipe, or main under or through, any railroad track, right of way, or land of any railroad company within the corporate limits.
23. Culverts, drains, and cesspools. To construct and keep in repair culverts, drains, sewers, catch basins, manholes, cesspools, vaults, cisterns, areas, and pumps within the corporate limits.
24. Licenses. To fix the amount, terms, and manner of issuing and revoking licenses.
25. Plumbers and plumbing business. To adopt, by ordinance, if it has a system of waterworks or sewerage, rules and regulations governing plumbing, drainage, and ventilation of plumbing within the limits of the municipality. The standards provided for in such ordinance, however, shall not be lower than the minimum standards provided for in any state plumbing code adopted pursuant to chapter 43-18, but may be higher than such standards. It may prescribe rules and regulations for all materials, constructions, alteration and inspection of pipes, tanks, and fixtures by which water is supplied to the citizens of the municipality, or by which waste or sewage is carried, and may provide that such pipes, tanks, and fixtures shall not be placed in any building in the municipality except in accordance with plans which are approved under the provisions of said ordinance, and that no plumbing shall be done except by plumbers registered and licensed under state law and under the ordinance, except by a property owner on that person's own premises which are occupied as that person's home or place of residence. The ordinance may provide that all work done by an owner upon that person's own premises must comply with the provisions of the state plumbing code or a local ordinance, whichever shall prescribe the highest standards. Before the municipality may require a plumber to be licensed by the municipality, it shall provide standards for plumbing in a municipality equal to or in excess of those provided by the state plumbing code. A municipality may adopt the state plumbing code as a whole as an ordinance of the municipality by reference without the necessity of publishing the text therefor.
26. Transient business and amusements. To license, tax, regulate, remove, suppress, and prohibit fortune-tellers, astrologers, and all persons practicing palmistry, clairvoyancy, mesmerism, and spiritualism, hawkers, peddlers, pawnbrokers, theatricals and other exhibitions, shows and amusements, ticket scalpers, and employment agencies, and to revoke the license at pleasure, except that the provision in this subsection with reference to hawkers and peddlers shall not apply to persons selling or offering for sale the products raised or grown on land within this state.
27. Draymen, taxi drivers, porters, and others pursuing like occupations. To license, tax, regulate, and prescribe the rates charged by draymen, parcel delivery men, busdrivers, taxi drivers, porters, expressmen, watermen, and others pursuing like occupations, and the operation of taxicabs. Provided, all motor vehicles used in ridesharing arrangements, as defined in section 8-02- 07, are not taxicabs.
28. Runners for stages and other things or persons. To license, regulate, tax, and restrain runners for stages, buses, cars, public houses, or other things or persons.
29. Alcoholic beverages. To regulate the use and to regulate and license the sale of alcoholic beverages subject to the provisions contained in title 5.
30. Bowling alleys, pool, billiards, theaters, and motion picture theaters. To license, regulate, and tax bowling alleys, theaters, motion picture theaters, and pool or billiard tables, or any other tables or implements kept or used for similar purposes in any public place.
31. Markets, market houses, and slaughterhouses. To establish, purchase, erect, lease, rent, manage, maintain, regulate, and provide for the use of markets and market houses, municipal slaughterhouses, or abattoirs.
32. Dairy, meat, and food products - Inspection and regulation of sale. To provide for the inspection of milk, cream, and butter sold within the limits of the municipality, and of any dairy or dairy herd kept for the production of such milk, cream, and butter. To prescribe the terms upon which sales of such milk, cream, and butter may be made and to fix penalties for violations. To prescribe regulations for the slaughtering of animals to be sold as meat. To prescribe generally sanitary and regulatory provisions as applied to food products sold within the limits of the municipality and to prohibit the sale of impure and diseased milk or other food products.
33. Public peace in municipality. To provide for keeping and preserving the peace and quietude of the municipality, prevent disorderly conduct, prohibit public intoxication, and prevent and suppress riots, affrays, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies in any place.
34. Fire limits. To prescribe fire limits within which wooden buildings shall not be erected, placed, or repaired without permission; provide that when a building within such limits has been damaged by fire, decay, or otherwise to the extent of fifty percent of its valuation, it shall be torn down and removed; prescribe the manner of ascertaining such damage; provide for the removal of any structure or building erected contrary to the prescribed rules; declare each day's continuance of such building or structure a separate offense and to prescribe the penalties therefor; and define fireproof material.
35. Fire hazards. To prevent and provide for remedying any dangerous construction or condition of any building, enclosure, or manufactory, or any equipment used therein; regulate and prevent the carrying on of manufactories creating a fire hazard; prevent a deposit or keeping of ashes or refuse in unsafe places; and require all buildings and places to be put and kept in a safe condition.
36. Waterworks system. To purchase, acquire by eminent domain in accordance with chapter 32-15, erect, lease, rent, manage, and maintain any system of waterworks, well reservoirs, pipes, machinery, buildings, and all other property comprising a waterworks system, such as hydrants, supply of water, fire stations, fire signals, fire engines, or fire apparatus that may be of use in the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and to fix and regulate the rates, use, and sale of water.
37. Fire equipment - Use beyond municipal limits. To use its fire department to attend to fires and render assistance to other municipalities within or without this state, or to private property, including farm buildings located outside the city limits, and the fire department, its members, and apparatus, when engaged outside the limits of the municipality, shall be deemed to be engaged in the performance of a public duty as fully as if serving within the limits of the municipality.
38. Storage of combustible material - Use of fireworks and open flame lights. To regulate and prohibit the storage of combustible or explosive material, the use of open flame lights, the building of bonfires, and the use or sale of firecrackers and fireworks.
39. Lumberyards. To regulate or prohibit the keeping of any lumberyard and the keeping or selling of any lumber or other combustible material within the fire limits.
40. Steam boilers. To provide for the inspection of steam boilers.
41. Jails. To establish, maintain, and regulate a jail and, with the consent of the board of county commissioners, to use the county jail for the confinement of persons charged with or convicted of the violation of any ordinance.
42. Cruelty to animals. To prohibit and punish cruelty to animals.
43. Vagrants and prostitutes. To restrain and punish vagrants, mendicants, and prostitutes.
44. Nuisances. To declare what shall constitute a nuisance and to prevent, abate, and remove the same.
45. Health regulations. To make regulations necessary or expedient for the promotion of health or for the suppression of disease.
46. Cemeteries. To establish, maintain, and regulate cemeteries within or without the municipality, acquire land therefor by purchase or otherwise, and cause cemeteries to be removed, and to prohibit the establishment thereof within, or within one mile [1.61 kilometers] of, the corporate limits.
47. Animals and poultry. To regulate or prohibit the running at large of animals and poultry, provide for the establishment and maintenance of public pounds for the impounding of any animals or poultry running at large or tethered in any street in violation of municipal ordinances, establish procedures for the impounding and discharging of animals and poultry impounded, make the expenses and fines imposed a lien upon such stock or poultry, and provide for the sale of the stock or poultry to satisfy such lien.
48. Packinghouses and other offensive businesses. To control the location and regulate the management and construction of packinghouses, renderies, bone and soap factories, slaughterhouses, livery stables, and blacksmith shops, and to prohibit any offensive or unwholesome business within, or within one mile [1.61 kilometers] of, the corporate limits.
49. Unwholesome or nauseous places. To compel the owner of any cellar, stable, pigsty, privy, sewer, or other unwholesome or nauseous thing or place to cleanse, abate, or remove the same, and to regulate the location thereof.
50. Public buildings. To construct, operate, and maintain all public buildings necessary for the use of the municipality.
51. Auctioneers, brokers, lumberyards, and public scales. To license, tax, and regulate auctioneers, brokers, lumberyards, and public scales.
52. Supplies. To provide that supplies needed for the use of the municipality shall be furnished by contract let to the lowest responsible bidder.
53. Secondhand and junk stores. To license, tax, and regulate secondhand and junk stores and to forbid and punish the purchase and receipt by them from minors of any articles without the written consent of their parents or guardians.
54. Insure public property. To insure the public property of the municipality.
55. Real and personal property. To acquire by lease, purchase, gift, condemnation, or other lawful means and to hold in its corporate name for use and control as provided by law, both real and personal property and easements and rights of way within or without the corporate limits or outside this state for all purposes authorized by law or necessary to the exercise of any power granted.
56. Transfer property. To convey, sell, dispose of, or lease personal and real property of the municipality as provided by this title.
57. Franchises. To grant franchises or privileges to persons, associations, corporations, or limited liability companies, any such franchise, except when given to a railroad company, to extend for a period of not to exceed twenty years, and to regulate the use of the same, franchises granted pursuant to the provisions of this title not to be exclusive or irrevocable but subject to the regulatory powers of the governing body.
58. Airports. To acquire, establish, construct, expand, own, lease, control, equip, improve, maintain, operate, regulate, and police airports and landing fields within or without the geographic limits of the municipality as provided in title 2.
59. Public works project. To accept aid from, cooperate and contract with, and to comply with and meet the requirements of any federal or state agency for the establishment, construction, and maintenance of public works, including dams and reservoirs for municipal water supply, for water conservation, flood control, prevention of stream pollution, or sewage disposal. In furtherance thereof to acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or condemnation the necessary lands, rights of way, and easements for such projects, and to transfer and convey to the state or federal government, or any agency thereof, such lands, rights of way, and easements in consideration of the establishment and construction of, and the public benefits which will be derived from any such project. To enter into an agreement with any such government, agency, or municipality within or without this state, to hold such government, agency, or municipality harmless from any and all liability or claim of liability arising from the establishment, construction, and maintenance of such works, and to indemnify such government, agency, or municipality for any such liability sustained by it and to pay all costs of defending against any such claim. In furtherance thereof to acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or, subject to chapter 32-15, condemnation, the necessary lands, rights of way, and easements for such projects, and to transfer and convey to such government, agency, or municipality, such lands, rights of way, and easements in consideration of the establishment and construction of, and the public benefits which will be derived from any such project, or to pay the cost of the acquisition of such lands, rights of way, and easements by such government, agency, or municipality. All actions herein authorized may be taken by resolution duly adopted by the governing body of the municipality. Any and all actions and proceedings heretofore taken by any municipality which are within the authority granted by this subsection are hereby legalized and validated.
60. Special improvement assessments - Satisfaction. To make assessments as limited by the laws of this state for local improvements on property adjoining or benefited thereby, to collect the same in the manner provided by law, and to satisfy the tax lien on lands subject to special assessments.
61. Public water supply. To prevent the pollution of or injury to any water supply belonging to the municipality or any public water supply within, or within one mile [1.61 kilometers] of, the limits of the municipality.
62. Band. To levy a tax as provided in this title for the purpose of providing a fund for the maintenance or employment of a band for municipal purposes.
63. Radio reception. To regulate the installation and operation of motors and other electrical or mechanical devices so as to prevent interference with radio reception.
64. Municipal plants. To sell, convey, and dispose of the plant or equipment of any public utility owned by the municipality and to contract for the leasing or operation of such plant, equipment, or utility by others, and to grant to the lessee or operator under such a contract the right to purchase such plant, equipment, or utility upon such terms and conditions as may be expressed in the contract, after authorization as provided by this title.
65. Public dances. To license, tax, and regulate public dances or public dancehalls.
66. Light and power plants and gas transmission or distribution systems. To purchase, acquire by eminent domain in accordance with chapter 32-15, erect, lease, rent, manage, and maintain electric light and power plants, gasworks, steam heating plants and appurtenances for distribution, and to regulate and fix the rates to its patrons and to jointly, with other municipalities, acquire by eminent domain, erect, construct, lease, rent, manage, and maintain any artificial or natural gas transmission or distribution lines or plants.
67. Flood control projects. To acquire, construct, maintain, operate, finance, and control flood control projects, both within and adjacent to such municipality, and for such purpose to acquire the necessary real property and easements therefor by purchase and eminent domain, in accordance with chapter 32-15, and to adopt such ordinances as may reasonably be required to regulate the same.
68. Public restrooms. To acquire, construct, maintain, operate, finance, and control public restrooms and facilities within such municipality, and for such purpose to acquire the necessary real property therefor by purchase and eminent domain, in accordance with chapter 32-15, and to adopt such ordinances as may reasonably be required to regulate the same.
69. Employee pension system. To adopt, by ordinance, a city employee pension system that may provide all rules and regulations governing its operation and discontinuance, provided other pension systems allowed by statute are not in effect, excepting firefighters relief associations and federal social security, or in order to consolidate existing pension plans. In addition to all other rules and regulations deemed necessary and proper by the governing body, it may provide as to matters pertaining to membership, tax levies in an amount not exceeding the total levies authorized by chapters 40-45 and 40-46, membership fees and assessments, management, investments, acceptance of money and property, retirement conditions and payment amount, continuance of system and discontinuance procedures, discontinuance payments, entrance into contracts with an insurance firm or firms for coverage of the employee pension system.
70. Television towers. To construct and maintain relay and booster towers for the improved reception of educational and entertainment television programs.
71. Contracts. To contract and be contracted with.
72. Community development block grant program. To loan or grant money to and secure a mortgage from individuals, associations, corporations, or limited liability companies and to purchase ownership shares or membership interests in corporations, limited liability companies, or other business associations as provided through the procedures established by the state's community development block grant program established pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 [Pub. L. 93-383; 88 Stat. 633; 42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.]. This power applies to all community development block grant transactions of the governing body, including any transactions prior to July 1, 1987. A city is not lending its funds or extending its credit to any individual, association, or organization under this subsection and no general liability on the part of the city is incurred.
73. Encouragement of arts. To, consistent with section 54-54-01, appropriate and disburse city moneys and to accept and disburse moneys received from federal, state, county, city, or private sources for the establishment, maintenance, or encouragement of arts within the city. The authority of a city under this subsection is supplemental to the authority provided in chapter 40- 38.1.
74. To expend city funds for the purpose of participating in an organization of city governments under section 40-01-23.
75. To participate and enact or adopt ordinances necessary for participation in the nation's historic preservation program as a certified local government, as provided for under 36 CFR 61.5.
76. Lease of waterworks or sewage systems. To lease, for a term not to exceed ninety-nine years, the plant or equipment of any waterworks, mains, or water distribution system and any property related thereto pursuant to subsection 5 of section 40-33-01 or to lease, for a term not to exceed ninety-nine years, any sewage system and all related property for the collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of sewage pursuant to section 40-34-19.
SOURCE: Pol. C. 1877, ch. 24, § 22; S.L. 1887, ch. 73, art. 4, § 1; 1887, ch. 105, § 1; 1887, ch. 106, § 1; 1890, ch. 100, §§ 1, 2; R.C. 1895, §§ 2148, 2365, 2459; S.L. 1897, ch. 102, § 1; 1897, ch. 148, § 1; 1899, ch. 40, § 1; 1899, ch. 172, § 1; R.C. 1899, §§ 2148, 2365, 2459; S.L. 1905, ch. 62, § 47; 1905, ch. 95, § 16; 1905, ch. 186, § 1; R.C. 1905, §§ 2105, 2678, 2864, 2963; S.L. 1907, ch. 45, § 48; 1907, ch. 90, § 17; 1907, ch. 268, § 1; 1909, ch. 92, § 26; 1911, ch. 5; 1911, ch. 73, § 1; 1911, ch. 77, § 48; 1913, ch. 75, § 1; 1913, ch. 83, § 1; 1913, ch. 291, § 1; C.L. 1913, §§ 2860, 3599, 3818, 3861, 3863, 3990; S.L. 1917, ch. 75, § 1; 1921, ch. 34; 1923, ch. 222, § 20; 1923, ch. 326; 1925, ch. 104; 1925 Supp., §§ 2079b1 to 2079b13, 2889b20, 3599, 3818; S.L. 1927, ch. 270, § 1; 1929, ch. 86, § 1; 1931, ch. 92, §§ 1, 2; 1931, ch. 191, §§ 1, 2; 1931, ch. 202, § 1; 1933, ch. 175, §§ 1, 3; 1933, ch. 247; 1935, ch. 283, § 1; 1939, ch. 9, § 1; 1941, ch. 187, § 8; R.C. 1943, § 40-0501; S.L. 1947, ch. 281, § 1; 1947, ch. 284, § 1; 1949, ch. 257, § 1; 1949, ch. 258, § 1; 1949, ch. 259, § 1; 1955, ch. 254, § 2; 1955, ch. 259, § 6; 1957 Supp., § 40-0501; S.L. 1959, ch. 285, § 4; 1959, ch. 302, § 1; 1959, ch. 303, § 1; 1963, ch. 286, § 1; 1963, ch. 287, § 1; 1967, ch. 323, § 116; 1969, ch. 367, § 1; 1971, ch. 387, § 1; 1971, ch. 594, § 2; 1975, ch. 119, § 13; 1979, ch. 444, § 1; 1981, ch. 131, § 10; 1981, ch. 407, § 1; 1985, ch. 453, § 2; 1985, ch. 454, § 1; 1987, ch. 489, § 1; 1989, ch. 488, § 2; 1993, ch. 54, § 106; 1993, ch. 402, § 1; 1999, ch. 211, § 16; 1999, ch. 503, § 9; 2003, ch. 340, § 1; 2003, ch. 341, § 1; 2003, ch. 342, § 3; 2007, ch. 293, § 17.
40-05-02 Additional powers of city council and board of city commissioners. (For dog related powers, see Sec. 22).
The city council in a city operating under the council form of government and the board of city commissioners in a city operating under the commission system of government, in addition to the powers possessed by all municipalities, shall have power:
1. Street railway and railway tracks. To permit, regulate, or prohibit the locating, constructing, or laying of railway or street railway tracks in any street, alley, or public place, and any permission given to a street railway may not be for a longer period than fifty years.
2. Sale of milk. To license the sale of milk.
3. Lumber, wood, coal, hay, and merchandise - Municipal scales. To regulate the inspecting, weighing, and measuring of lumber, firewood, coal, hay, and other articles of merchandise; establish or purchase one or more city scales and to require dealers in hay, coal, firewood, or any other commodity, which, in the judgment of the governing body, should be weighed upon the city scales, to use such scales in the sale of such commodity; and charge a reasonable fee for the use of such scales.
4. Fences and party walls. To regulate partition fences and party walls.
5. Jail, house of correction, workhouse. To establish, maintain, and regulate a city jail, house of correction, and workhouse for the confinement and reformation of disorderly persons convicted of violating any city ordinance and to appoint necessary jailers and keepers.
6. Building permits. To provide by ordinance and to fix the fees for the issuance of building permits.
7. Building construction - Fire escapes. To prescribe the manner of constructing buildings, structures, and the walls thereof, require and regulate the construction of fire escapes on buildings, and provide for the inspection of all buildings within the limits of the municipality and for the appointment of a building inspector.
8. Bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and overhead pedestrian bridges. To construct, keep in repair, and regulate the use of bridges, viaducts, overhead pedestrian bridges, and tunnels.
9. Police. To regulate the police of the municipality and to pass and enforce all necessary police ordinances.
10. Hospitals and medical dispensaries. To establish, control, and regulate hospitals and medical dispensaries.
11. Census. To provide for the taking of a census of the city, but no city census may be taken more often than once in every three years.
12. Redistricting city. To redistrict the city into wards and to prescribe the boundaries thereof.
13. Zoning. To adopt a zoning ordinance as provided in this title; regulate the location of junk shops, coalyards, garages, machine shops, power laundries, hospitals, and undertaking establishments; and establish building lines fixing the distance from the property line at which buildings may be erected.
14. Traffic regulation. To regulate, control, or restrict within designated zones, or congested traffic districts, except that the speed limit for vehicles on those streets designated as part of any state highway must be as determined by mutual agreement with the director of the department of transportation, the use of streets, alleys, or other public ways by various classes of traffic.
15. Driving while intoxicated. To prohibit by ordinance the operation of any motor vehicle or other conveyance upon the streets, alleys, or other public or private areas to which the public has a right of access for vehicular use within the city by any person under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.
16. Tourist camps. To license, regulate, and fix the location of any public or private tourist camp within the city.
17. Water supply. To withdraw from any stream, watercourse, or body of water within or without a city, or within or without, or bordering upon, this state, a supply of water reasonably sufficient for the needs of the inhabitants of the city, and to supply the facilities for the storage of water for all other necessary municipal purposes.
18. Dams for municipal water purposes. To erect dams upon or across streams, watercourses, or bodies of water within or without, or bordering upon, the boundaries of this state, and to improve, alter, or protect the bed, banks, or course thereof.
19. Water supply - Acquire necessary property. To acquire by gift, grant, lease, easement, purchase, or, subject to chapter 32-15, by eminent domain, and to own, operate, maintain, and improve, all lands, structures, power plants, public works, and personal property, whether within or without this state, necessary for the maintenance and conservation of its water supply.
20. Abandoned or unclaimed personal property. To provide by ordinance for the taking, storage, and disposal of any personal property abandoned or left unclaimed upon the streets, alleys, or other public ways of the city for a period exceeding ten days, and, after holding such property for a period of not less than sixty days, to sell the same at public sale after a notice published or posted at least ten days before the sale, and at such place, and in such manner as may be provided by ordinance. Upon the sale of the property, the city shall convey to the purchaser a merchantable title by a bill of sale. At any time within six months after the sale, the owner of the property, upon written application, is entitled to receive the proceeds of the sale from the city, less the necessary expense of taking, storing, and selling the property. The owner of the property may reclaim it at any time prior to the sale upon payment of the necessary expense of taking and storing.
21. Auditoriums and public buildings. To take charge of a fully completed auditorium or other property originally purchased or acquired for public use by public subscription, donation, sale of stock, or otherwise, if such auditorium or other property has been abandoned or lost by the original owner or owners, their successors or assigns, and to operate, maintain, repair, and keep such property for public use. In the ownership, management, use, or operation thereof, the city must be deemed to be exercising a governmental function.
22. Dogs. To license dogs, and to regulate the keeping of dogs, including authorization for their disposition or destruction in order to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the public provided, however, that license fees are waived in the case of an assistance dog.
23. Substandard buildings or structures. The governing body of any city shall have the authority to provide by ordinance for the demolition, repair, or removal of any building or structure located within the limits of such city or other territory under its jurisdiction, which creates a fire hazard, is dangerous to the safety of the occupants or persons frequenting such premises, or is permitted by the owner to remain in a dilapidated condition. Any such ordinance must provide for written notice to the owner of a hearing by the governing body before final action is taken by such body. It must also provide a reasonable time within which an appeal may be taken by the owner from any final order entered by such governing body to a court of competent jurisdiction. This subsection in no way limits or restricts any authority which is now or may hereafter be vested in the state fire marshal for the regulation or control of such buildings or structures.
24. Assault and battery. To prohibit by ordinance and prescribe the punishment for the commission of assault and battery within the jurisdiction of the city.
25. Theft. To prohibit by ordinance and prescribe the punishment for the commission of theft, as defined by chapter 12.1-23, within the jurisdiction of the city.
26. Peace bonds. To provide by ordinance for the issuance of peace bonds by the municipal judge in accordance with the procedure in chapter 29-02.
27. Public transportation. To provide by ordinance for the purchase, acquisition, or establishment, and operation of a public transportation system. In the alternative, to provide for payments under a contract, approved by the governing body of the city, with a private contractor, for the provision and operation of a public transportation system within the city.
28. Traffic violation hearings. To enact an ordinance equivalent to section 39-06.1-04; provided, that the penalty assessed may not exceed that authorized by section 40-05-06.
29. Marijuana possession. To prohibit by ordinance any person, except a person operating a motor vehicle, from possessing not more than one-half ounce [14.175 grams] of marijuana, as defined by section 19-03.1-01, within the jurisdiction of a city, and to prescribe the punishment, provided the penalty assessed is subject to subsection 4 of section 19-03.1-23.
SOURCE: Pol. C. 1877, ch. 24, § 22; S.L. 1887, ch. 73, art. 4, § 1; 1887, ch. 106, § 1; 1890, ch. 100, §§ 1, 2; R.C. 1895, §§ 2148, 2365; S.L. 1897, ch. 102, § 1; 1897, ch. 148, § 1; 1899, ch. 40, § 1; R.C. 1899, §§ 2148, 2365; S.L. 1905, ch. 62, § 47; 1905, ch. 186, § 1; R.C. 1905, §§ 2678, 2864; S.L. 1907, ch. 45, § 48; 1907, ch. 268, § 1; 1911, ch. 77, § 48; 1911, ch. 79, § 1; 1913, ch. 81, § 1; 1913, ch. 291, § 1; C.L. 1913, §§ 3599, 3818, 3861; S.L. 1933, ch. 175, § 1; R.C. 1943, § 40-0502; S.L. 1945, ch. 252, §§ 1, 2; 1957 Supp., § 40- 0502; S.L. 1959, ch. 285, § 5; 1967, ch. 324, § 1; 1969, ch. 368, § 1; 1971, ch. 388, § 1; 1975, ch. 106, § 453; 1975, ch. 339, §§ 20, 21; 1981, ch. 408, § 1; 1983, ch. 455, § 1; 1987, ch. 73, § 25; 1987, ch. 490, § 1; 2001, ch. 258, § 7; 2007, ch. 293, § 18.
TITLE 40. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTER 40-05. POWERS OF MUNICIPALITIES.
40-05-19 City tax levy for animal shelters -- Sterilization of animals.
The governing body of the city, when authorized by a vote of at least sixty percent of the electors voting on the question, may levy a tax not exceeding the limitation in subsection 27 of section 57-15-10 for the construction, operation, or maintenance of animal shelters. The proceeds of the tax must be kept in a separate fund and used exclusively for the purposes provided in this section. The levy authorized by this section may be used to defray expenses of any organization or agency incorporated under the laws of this state as a nonprofit corporation that has contracted with the governing body of the city in regard to the manner in which the funds will be expended and the services will be provided. No unclaimed dog or cat may be released for adoption by an animal shelter that receives funds from the levy under this section without being first sterilized, or without a written agreement and deposit from the adopter guaranteeing that the animal will be sterilized.
Souce: S.L. 1985, ch. 616, §§ 2, 3.
TITLE 42. NUISANCES. CHAPTER 42-03. DOGS AS PUBLIC NUISANCE.
42-03-01 When dogs are a public nuisance.
Any dog that habitually molests a person traveling peaceably on the public road or street is a public nuisance. Upon written complaint to a district or municipal judge describing the dog, giving the name of the dog and the dog's owner if known, and, if not, so stating, and alleging that the dog is a public nuisance, the district or municipal judge shall give notice to the dog's owner that a complaint has been filed that the dog has been molesting certain persons and that the owner shall take the necessary action to prevent the dog from any further violations of this chapter. If the district or municipal judge receives a further complaint regarding the dog after notice has been given under this section, the judge shall issue a summons, if the owner is known, commanding the owner to appear before the judge in the same manner as other court summonses.
Source: S.L. 1959, ch. 314, § 1; 1981, ch. 320, § 101; 1997, ch. 51, § 32.
42-03-02 Owner of dog not known.
If it appears from the complaint that the owner is not known, ten days' notice shall be given by publication in one issue of a newspaper having wide circulation in the area. Such notice shall contain a description of the dog as given in the complaint, a statement that such complaint has been made, and the time and place of hearing thereon.
Source: S.L. 1959, ch. 314, § 2.
42-03-03 Hearing -- Judgment -- Execution.
On the day of hearing the district or municipal judge shall hear the evidence in the case. If the judge finds that the dog is a public nuisance, judgment must be entered accordingly, and the judge shall order any peace officer to kill and bury the dog, which order the peace officer shall forthwith execute.
Source: S.L. 1959, ch. 314, § 3; 1981, ch. 320, § 102; 1997, ch. 51, § 33.
42-03-04 Costs.
Costs shall be paid by the complainant, but if the dog is adjudged a nuisance, and the owner is known, judgment shall be entered against the owner for such costs.
Source: S.L. 1959, ch. 314, § 4.
TITLE 43. OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS. CHAPTER 43-29. VETERINARIANS.
43-29-16.1 Abandonment of animals by owner.
1. Any animal placed in the custody of a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine for treatment, boarding, or other care, which is abandoned by its owner or its owner's agent for a period of more than ten days after a written notice, by registered or certified letter, return receipt requested, is given to the owner or its owner's agent at the last-known address, may be turned over to the custody of the nearest humane society or dog pound in the area or disposed of as such custodian may deem proper.
2. The giving of notice to the owner, or the agent of the owner, of such animal by the doctor of veterinary medicine, as provided in subsection 1, shall relieve the doctor of veterinary medicine and any custodian to whom such animal may be given of any further liability for disposal; it is further provided that such procedure by the licensed doctor of veterinary medicine does not constitute grounds for disciplinary procedure under this chapter.
3. For the purpose of this section, the term "abandoned" means to forsake entirely or to neglect or refuse to provide or perform the care and support of an animal by its owner or its owner's agent; such abandonment constitutes the relinquishment of all rights and claim by the owner of such animal.
Source: S.L. 1973, ch. 359, § 14; 1991, ch. 472, § 12.
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