Which North Dakota volunteers does the law say must be checked?

Only those in a handful of licensed or regulated settings; we found no North Dakota statute that reaches nonprofits generally. Checks are required in specific settings: early childhood services (for volunteers who count as staff members), child-placing agencies (for volunteers with direct contact with families or children), psychiatric residential treatment facilities, qualified residential treatment programs, foster care facilities, and licensed developmental-disability providers. Churches, camps, youth sports, co-ops and most adult programs set their own standard.

When does a North Dakota child care volunteer get fingerprinted?

When the volunteer counts as a “staff member.” N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-02(28) makes anyone whose activities involve the care, supervision or guidance of a provider’s children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, a staff member. Staff members get HHS’s fingerprint-based FBI check plus state criminal, sex offender registry and child abuse and neglect searches — and searches in other states if they lived outside North Dakota in the past five years. HHS says the check must be approved before unsupervised access, and it is renewed at least every five years. A visitor who never cares for children or has unsupervised access is outside the definition.

Can a North Dakota nonprofit get an FBI check on a volunteer?

Not through the state. For checks under N.D.C.C. § 12-60-24, the BCI is the sole channel for FBI fingerprint results, and it releases them only to the agencies, officials and entities listed in § 12-60-24(2), which do not include private nonprofits. The Attorney General says everyone else must go directly to the FBI. We found no North Dakota program under the federal National Child Protection Act for nonprofits.

Where does a North Dakota nonprofit order a volunteer’s state record?

From the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. A state record check costs $15, or $5 for a nonprofit the Attorney General has approved as organized in North Dakota exclusively for the benefit of minors or, for volunteer checks, vulnerable elderly adults. Unless the volunteer signs the BCI’s authorization form, the BCI mails the volunteer a notice of the release. A general check shows North Dakota convictions of any age and other charges from the last three years, but no records from other states, federal, tribal or juvenile records. The Attorney General says it takes about 7–10 business days.

Must a North Dakota volunteer report suspected child abuse?

Not by virtue of volunteering alone. N.D.C.C. § 50-25.1-03 names professions such as child care workers, foster parents, teachers, school counselors, social workers, medical and mental health professionals and clergy, and names no volunteer role. Anyone may report, and anyone who finds child sexual images on a workplace computer must. An organization with more than 25 mandated reporters may name a designated agent to file for its staff and volunteers, who may not condition or change their reports; a volunteer who knows the agent didn’t report must report directly. Volunteers who take on the care of a vulnerable adult must report that adult’s abuse or neglect. The reporting line is 1-833-958-3500.

Can a VolunteerBadge report stand in for an HHS or BCI check?

No. VolunteerBadge is not a fingerprint check and isn’t run by HHS or the BCI, so it never counts toward HHS’s child care check, a child-placing or residential program’s fingerprint check, or a developmental-disability provider’s federal and state checks. Use it for the camp, church, league and co-op roles no North Dakota rule reaches, and as an extra look alongside the checks the law requires.

Free guide · 2026 edition · HHS prints, BCI records and the settings that name volunteers

Two Sets of Prints: The North Dakota guide to screening volunteers: when a child care volunteer counts as a “staff member,” the placement and residential checks that name volunteers, what a BCI record shows, and why a nonprofit can’t order FBI results through the state

North Dakota writes no screening rule for volunteers in general. But in licensed child care, anyone who helps care for, supervise or guide children — or who may be alone with them — is a “staff member,” and staff members get HHS’s fingerprint-based state and FBI check. Child-placing agency law names volunteers outright, residential programs fingerprint nonemployees, and developmental-disability providers check volunteers who work with the people they serve. Everyone else can buy a North Dakota record from the BCI, but not FBI results. This guide explains each rule, section by section.

By the VolunteerBadge research team · Sources checked September 12, 2026

Written for North Dakota child care directors, agency staff, league boards and church leaders who place volunteers
When a child care volunteer becomes a “staff member” — and gets HHS’s FBI fingerprint check
Child-placing, residential, disability-services and school rules, setting by setting
What a $15 BCI record shows, what it leaves out, and the FBI results nonprofits can’t order

Who Two Sets of Prints is for

Child care owners and directors, child-placing and residential program staff, developmental-disability providers, school and PTA volunteer coordinators, camp, church and league leaders, senior-program coordinators and nonprofit boards — anyone who puts volunteers to work in North Dakota.

30.7%

of North Dakotans volunteered through an organization in 2023 — 26th of 50 states, and below Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana.

VolunteerBadge analysis of AmeriCorps CEV 2023 data

3.7

child maltreatment victims per 1,000 North Dakota children in 2024, against 7.2 nationally. North Dakota ties much of its 58% fall since 2020 to a 2021 “impending danger” policy change, so read the rate as a counting change as much as a safety gain.

ACF, Child Maltreatment 2024

$15

for a North Dakota state record from the BCI — $5 for an Attorney General–approved charity serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults.

N.D.C.C. § 12-60-16.9

Cited to primary sources

North Dakota at a glance

Duties follow the setting: We found no statute that reaches every North Dakota nonprofit. North Dakota’s checks attach to settings: early childhood services, child-placing agencies, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, QRTPs, foster care facilities and licensed developmental-disability providers.; N.D.C.C. §§ 50-11.1-06.2, 50-12-03, 25-03.2-04.1, 50-11-06.8; NDAC 75-03-40-25, 75-04-01-06
Child care volunteers as “staff members”: Anyone whose activities involve the care, supervision or guidance of a provider’s children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, is a staff member. Staff members get a fingerprint-based FBI check plus state criminal, registry and abuse-record searches — out-of-state searches too if they lived elsewhere in the past five years.; N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-02(28); NDAC 75-03-09-12.1; HHS, Child Care Licensing
Child care timing and cost: The authorization form is due no later than the first day, and HHS says checks must be approved before unsupervised access. A check is valid five years unless the person was separated from a provider for more than 180 days. HHS may charge up to $30 to process; its fingerprinting sites charge no fee. Checks run through the ND Gateway Portal since November 3, 2025.; N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-06.2(5), (10); NDAC 75-03-09-27(5), -28(2); HHS, Child Care Licensing; HHS, Criminal Background Checks
Child-placing agencies name volunteers: Since July 1, 2023, each volunteer or field-placement student with direct contact with families or children needs a criminal history record investigation. HHS’s rules require an initial fingerprint check and an annual child abuse and neglect index check for each nonemployee.; N.D.C.C. § 50-12-03; NDAC 75-03-36-13(1)–(2)
Residential, foster and disability programs: Psychiatric residential treatment facilities fingerprint any nonemployee with contact with a child; QRTPs check all personnel with direct contact with residents, nonemployees included; foster care facilities check anyone providing care; and developmental-disability licensees run federal and state checks on volunteers who work with the people served.; N.D.C.C. §§ 25-03.2-04.1(1), 50-11-06.8(1); NDAC 75-03-40-03(19), -25, 75-04-01-06(2)
BCI records for any requester: The BCI sells a North Dakota record for $15, or $5 for an Attorney General–approved charity serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults, in about 7–10 business days. Without the person’s signed authorization, the BCI mails them a notice. The record excludes other states’ records and federal, tribal and juvenile records.; N.D.C.C. §§ 12-60-16.6, 12-60-16.8, 12-60-16.9; BCI form SFN 54305; AG, Understanding the Criminal History Record Results; AG, Requesting a Criminal History Record Check
No FBI route for nonprofits: FBI fingerprint results pass through the BCI only to the entities § 12-60-24(2) lists, and private nonprofits aren’t on it; the Attorney General sends everyone else to the FBI directly. School boards may pay for a state and FBI check on people with unsupervised student contact.; N.D.C.C. § 12-60-24(1)(c), (2), (2)(y); AG, Requesting a National (FBI) Record Check
A professional reporter list: North Dakota names professions, not volunteer roles, and anyone may report. An entity with more than 25 mandated reporters may name a designated agent to report for staff and volunteers; the agent may not condition or change a report, and a volunteer who knows it didn’t report must report directly. Reporting line: 1-833-958-3500.; N.D.C.C. §§ 50-25.1-03, 50-25.1-04(2)–(3), 50-25.1-13; HHS, Child Protection Program

From the Two Sets of Prints executive summary

Before you place a volunteer in North Dakota: six facts

1
There is no general mandate.
Across the Century Code titles we searched, no statute makes nonprofits in general check volunteers. The duties belong to settings: early childhood services, child-placing agencies, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, QRTPs, foster care facilities and developmental-disability providers.
2
A child care volunteer can be a “staff member.”
Anyone whose activities involve the care, supervision or guidance of a provider’s children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, is a staff member. Staff members get HHS’s fingerprint-based state and FBI check, with registry and abuse-record searches, approved before unsupervised access and renewed at least every five years.
3
Child-placing agencies must check volunteers — the statute names them.
Since July 1, 2023, a child-placing agency must run a criminal history record investigation on each volunteer or field-placement student with direct contact with families or children. HHS’s rules add an annual child abuse and neglect index check for each nonemployee.
4
Nonprofits can get North Dakota records, not FBI records.
Anyone may buy a BCI state record for $15, or $5 for an Attorney General–approved charity serving only minors or vulnerable elderly adults. FBI results pass through the BCI only to the entities N.D.C.C. § 12-60-24(2) lists, and private nonprofits aren’t among them.
5
Reporting follows the profession.
North Dakota names professions such as child care workers, foster parents, teachers and clergy; its list names no volunteer role. Anyone may report, anyone who finds child sexual images on a workplace computer must, and volunteers who take on the care of a vulnerable adult must report its abuse.
6
Sealing a court file doesn’t clean a BCI record.
A conviction stays on the BCI criminal history record however old it is, even after the court file is sealed. Since August 1, 2025, dismissal and acquittal court records close after 61 days, but a general BCI check still shows dismissed charges for three years.

Inside Two Sets of Prints, chapter by chapter

01
Where the state runs the check, and where you do
Where the state runs the check and where you do, with the 30.7% volunteer rate and a maltreatment rate that carries North Dakota’s own caveat.
02
Ten rows, from licensed child care to Sunday school
Ten rows, from licensed child care to the church with a Sunday school: who North Dakota checks, and how.
03
Child care: when a volunteer is a “staff member”
The definition, HHS’s searches (up to eight), the first-day form, the five-year clock and fees.
04
Written out of child care: church care, Sunday school, camps and sports
The four exclusions, camps, and the coach immunity that needs a training program.
05
Child-placing, residential and foster care
SB 2051’s volunteer checks, the “nonemployee” rules, PRTFs, QRTPs and advocacy centers.
06
Adults with disabilities and older adults
Developmental-disability checks, adult foster care and two BCI rules for caregiving roles.
07
Schools: a check the board may buy
Section 12-60-24(2)(y), “unsupervised contact,” school fees and the school-property bar.
08
“Only the bureau”: ordering a North Dakota record
BCI fees, forms, the notice rule, and what a record shows and leaves out.
09
FBI results, and the two lists anyone can search
Why nonprofits can’t get FBI results through the BCI, and the Offenders Against Children list.
10
Sealed in court, still on the record
Sealing, the 2025 closing rule, public-only ban-the-box and the FCRA.
11
Who must report in North Dakota
The professional list, the designated-agent rule, vulnerable adults and the hotline.
12
Good faith: immunity, registration and raffles
Volunteer and director immunity, charity registration and charitable gaming.
13
Thirteen changes, S.B. 2051 onward
Thirteen dated changes, from S.B. 2051’s volunteer checks to the January 2026 special session.
14
Six settings where a national search helps
Six settings, from HHS’s child care prints to senior visiting: where a national search helps and where the state’s check governs.
A
Appendix A: Child care, placement, adult care, BCI
The baseline, child care, placement and residential care, adult programs, BCI records and reporting.
B
Appendix B: A reporting card and a BCI notice
A ch. 50-25.1 card for volunteers and a notice explaining a BCI record check.
C
Appendix C: Forty sources and five free tools
Five free resources and 40 numbered sources, with read dates and the HHS and special-session items we couldn’t retrieve.

Get the free guide

Two Sets of Prints: North Dakota questions answered

Which North Dakota volunteers does the law say must be checked?: Only those in a handful of licensed or regulated settings; we found no North Dakota statute that reaches nonprofits generally. Checks are required in specific settings: early childhood services (for volunteers who count as staff members), child-placing agencies (for volunteers with direct contact with families or children), psychiatric residential treatment facilities, qualified residential treatment programs, foster care facilities, and licensed developmental-disability providers. Churches, camps, youth sports, co-ops and most adult programs set their own standard.
When does a North Dakota child care volunteer get fingerprinted?: When the volunteer counts as a “staff member.” N.D.C.C. § 50-11.1-02(28) makes anyone whose activities involve the care, supervision or guidance of a provider’s children, or who may have unsupervised access to them, a staff member. Staff members get HHS’s fingerprint-based FBI check plus state criminal, sex offender registry and child abuse and neglect searches — and searches in other states if they lived outside North Dakota in the past five years. HHS says the check must be approved before unsupervised access, and it is renewed at least every five years. A visitor who never cares for children or has unsupervised access is outside the definition.
Can a North Dakota nonprofit get an FBI check on a volunteer?: Not through the state. For checks under N.D.C.C. § 12-60-24, the BCI is the sole channel for FBI fingerprint results, and it releases them only to the agencies, officials and entities listed in § 12-60-24(2), which do not include private nonprofits. The Attorney General says everyone else must go directly to the FBI. We found no North Dakota program under the federal National Child Protection Act for nonprofits.
Where does a North Dakota nonprofit order a volunteer’s state record?: From the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. A state record check costs $15, or $5 for a nonprofit the Attorney General has approved as organized in North Dakota exclusively for the benefit of minors or, for volunteer checks, vulnerable elderly adults. Unless the volunteer signs the BCI’s authorization form, the BCI mails the volunteer a notice of the release. A general check shows North Dakota convictions of any age and other charges from the last three years, but no records from other states, federal, tribal or juvenile records. The Attorney General says it takes about 7–10 business days.
Must a North Dakota volunteer report suspected child abuse?: Not by virtue of volunteering alone. N.D.C.C. § 50-25.1-03 names professions such as child care workers, foster parents, teachers, school counselors, social workers, medical and mental health professionals and clergy, and names no volunteer role. Anyone may report, and anyone who finds child sexual images on a workplace computer must. An organization with more than 25 mandated reporters may name a designated agent to file for its staff and volunteers, who may not condition or change their reports; a volunteer who knows the agent didn’t report must report directly. Volunteers who take on the care of a vulnerable adult must report that adult’s abuse or neglect. The reporting line is 1-833-958-3500.
Can a VolunteerBadge report stand in for an HHS or BCI check?: No. VolunteerBadge is not a fingerprint check and isn’t run by HHS or the BCI, so it never counts toward HHS’s child care check, a child-placing or residential program’s fingerprint check, or a developmental-disability provider’s federal and state checks. Use it for the camp, church, league and co-op roles no North Dakota rule reaches, and as an extra look alongside the checks the law requires.

Beyond Two Sets of Prints

The North Dakota sources behind Two Sets of Prints

Checked September 12, 2026. The guide cites each one where it is used.

General information, not legal advice. Laws and agency practice change. Confirm anything you rely on with the agencies named here, your licensor, your insurer or qualified counsel. Spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it.

VolunteerBadge is owned and operated by ScreenForge Labs, LLC, an FCRA-regulated Consumer Reporting Agency that has obtained its FCRA Certificate from the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA). This guide is general educational information and is not legal advice. Laws change; this guide's sources were checked as of September 12, 2026.