Bottom Line for North Dakota Nonprofits
- ✓Child care volunteers who help care for, supervise or guide children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, in licensed family, group, center, preschool and school-age programs (fingerprint-based state and FBI check, repeated at least every five years; N.D.C.C. §§ 50-11.1-02(28), 50-11.1-06.2; NDAC 75-03-09-12.1, 75-03-09-27(5))
- ✓Volunteers and field-placement students of licensed child-placing agencies who have direct contact with families or children (N.D.C.C. § 50-12-03; NDAC 75-03-36-13)
- ✓Volunteers of licensed developmental-disability service providers who work with the people served (federal and state checks; NDAC 75-04-01-06(2))
- +1 more required roles below
State Laws That Apply to Volunteer Background Checks
Early Childhood Services Background Investigations
N.D.C.C. §§ 50-11.1-02(28), 50-11.1-06.2; N.D. Admin. Code 75-03-08-12.1, 75-03-09-12.1, 75-03-09-27, 75-03-10-14, 75-03-11.1-08.5A volunteer who helps care for, supervise or guide children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, is a staff member and must give fingerprints for a state and FBI criminal history check through HHS and the BCI. The check is valid for five years, the rules require a new fingerprint check at least every five years, and HHS may charge up to $30 to process it.
BCI Criminal History Record Checks
N.D.C.C. §§ 12-60-16.6, 12-60-16.8, 12-60-16.9, 12-60-24Any requester may obtain a North Dakota criminal history record from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation for $15, or $5 for an Attorney General–approved nonprofit serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults; the BCI notifies the subject unless a signed authorization is attached. FBI fingerprint results go only to the agencies and entities listed in § 12-60-24(2), which does not include private nonprofits.
Child-Placing Agency Volunteer Checks
N.D.C.C. § 50-12-03; N.D. Admin. Code 75-03-36-13Since 2023 a licensed child-placing agency must run a criminal history record investigation on each employee, volunteer or field-placement student with direct contact with families or children, and nonemployees also need an annual child abuse and neglect index check.
Who Must Be Screened in North Dakota
!Legally Required to Be Screened
- •Child care volunteers who help care for, supervise or guide children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, in licensed family, group, center, preschool and school-age programs (fingerprint-based state and FBI check, repeated at least every five years; N.D.C.C. §§ 50-11.1-02(28), 50-11.1-06.2; NDAC 75-03-09-12.1, 75-03-09-27(5))
- •Volunteers and field-placement students of licensed child-placing agencies who have direct contact with families or children (N.D.C.C. § 50-12-03; NDAC 75-03-36-13)
- •Volunteers of licensed developmental-disability service providers who work with the people served (federal and state checks; NDAC 75-04-01-06(2))
- •Nonemployees of psychiatric residential treatment facilities for children who have contact with a child, volunteers placed with or present in qualified residential treatment programs who have direct contact with residents, and anyone providing care in a foster care facility (N.D.C.C. §§ 25-03.2-04.1(1), 50-11-06.8(1); NDAC 75-03-40-25)
Optional — no North Dakota statute we found requires a check
- ◦children’s advocacy center volunteers who have contact with children, whom HHS may check (N.D.C.C. § 50-25.1-11.1(3))
- ◦school volunteers, chaperones and volunteer coaches with unsupervised student contact; a school board may pay for a state and FBI check, but we found no statute requiring one (N.D.C.C. § 12-60-24(2)(y))
- ◦youth sports, camp, faith-based and other nonprofit volunteers; we found no statute requiring checks, and a BCI state check costs $15, or $5 for an Attorney General–approved nonprofit serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults (N.D.C.C. § 12-60-16.9)
Types of Background Checks Required in North Dakota
How to Get Background Checks in North Dakota
$5 per check — a national criminal database search, sex offender registries in all 50 states and an SSN trace, with human FCRA review when a record needs it. It never replaces a check North Dakota law requires.
Start Free Today →Volunteer Screening in North Dakota: What You Need to Know
North Dakota’s official criminal history record comes only from the BCI, and a general BCI check shows every conviction however old but drops dismissed or undisposed charges after three years (N.D.C.C. § 12-60-16.6). Sealing a court record under ch. 12-60.1 does not remove the conviction from the BCI record, and the sealing order must still release the information to an entity with a statutory duty to run a background check (§ 12-60.1-04(8)); since August 1, 2025 courts close dismissal and acquittal records after 61 days (§ 12-60.1-05). The BCI mails the record subject notice of a release unless the request carries the subject’s signed authorization (§ 12-60-16.8). North Dakota’s ban-the-box law covers only state and local government employers, not school districts, private employers or volunteers (§ 12.1-33-02.2). Nonprofit volunteers are immune from civil liability for good-faith acts except willful misconduct, gross negligence or driving (§ 32-03-45), and volunteer coaches keep immunity only after a league or team safety orientation and training program (§ 32-03-46).
Compliance Tips for North Dakota Nonprofits
- 1
Licensed child care: treat any volunteer who helps care for, supervise or guide children, or who could be alone with them, as a staff member; submit the HHS authorization form no later than the first day, and, per HHS, do not allow unsupervised access until HHS approves the fingerprint check (N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-02(28); form deadline NDAC 75-03-09-28(2)).
- 2
Other nonprofits can order a BCI state record check for $15, or $5 after the Attorney General approves the organization as serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults (SFN 54305); attach the volunteer’s signed SFN 51156 authorization, or the BCI will mail the volunteer a notice (N.D.C.C. §§ 12-60-16.8, 12-60-16.9).
- 3
Calendar the recheck: a child care fingerprint check is valid for five years and lapses if the person is separated from employment by a child care provider for more than 180 days (N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-06.2(10)).
- 4
A BCI check covers North Dakota records only and excludes tribal, federal, juvenile and other states’ records, so add a multistate or national search for volunteers who have lived elsewhere or near reservations.
- 5
Search the Attorney General’s Offenders Against Children list as well as the sex offender registry; it lists people convicted of crimes against children who are not on the registry.
- 6
Volunteer coaches keep North Dakota’s liability shield only after completing the league’s or team’s safety orientation and training program (N.D.C.C. § 32-03-46).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does North Dakota require background checks for my nonprofit’s volunteers?
Only for volunteers in specific roles or settings; no North Dakota rule covers every nonprofit. North Dakota has no general volunteer-screening law. Licensed child care programs must put any volunteer who cares for, supervises or guides children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, through a fingerprint-based state and FBI check at least every five years (N.D.C.C. §§ 50-11.1-02(28), 50-11.1-06.2).
How long does a North Dakota volunteer background check take?
Official state checks: About 7–10 business days for a BCI state criminal history record check, per the Attorney General; HHS child care fingerprint checks are submitted and tracked through the ND Gateway Portal, and we found no published FBI turnaround. VolunteerBadge's national criminal search returns most results in minutes; a record that needs human FCRA review can take up to about 72 hours.