Administrative Rule 61 - COLLECTION OF RACE DATA

Section 1. Purpose. This rule governs the collection of race data in the North Dakota criminal justice system. Race data is critical to criminal justice policy making decisions and will be used solely for this purpose. Section 2. Data Collection. (a) Each criminal case docketed in the Odyssey electronic filing system must include the race of the defendant. (b) The prosecuting attorney must collect race data pertaining to defendants who are eighteen years of age or older at the time of the commission of an alleged offense. The race of the defendant and the state identification number of the defendant must be included with the charging document. (c) If a case is initiated by citation, the clerk of district court must include on the Odyssey record the race indicated on the citation. Section 3. Race Categories. (a) White; (1) Hispanic; (2) Non-Hispanic; (b) Black or African American; (c) American Indian or Alaska Native; (d) Asian; (e) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and (f) Multi-racial. Section 4. Access. (a) Data compiled for internal reports to inform policymaking decisions is not accessible to the public unless made available in a final report. (b) Reports of compiled race data may be disclosed for research purposes upon request and payment of a fee for the cost of compilation. Section 5. Effective Date. This rule is effective March 1, 2021.