What needs to change in North Dakota.

• Spiritual-adviser carveout inside § 50-25.1-03(1)

  The second sentence of N.D. Cent. Code § 50-25.1-03(1) reads: 'A member of the clergy, however, is not required to report such circumstances if the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information received in the capacity of spiritual adviser.' This exemption sits inside the reporting-duty section itself, not in a separate privilege statute. Because the carveout is written directly into § 50-25.1-03, the broader privilege-abrogation rule in § 50-25.1-10 (which sweeps away professional-client and spousal privileges for child-abuse proceedings) does not reach it. **A therapist or physician cannot withhold a report by invoking professional privilege; a member of the clergy who learns of abuse while acting as a spiritual adviser can.** Willful failure to report is a class B misdemeanor under § 50-25.1-13.

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• § 50-25.1-10 abrogates other privileges but leaves the clergy carveout intact

  N.D. Cent. Code § 50-25.1-10 ('Abrogation of privileged communications') provides that 'any privilege of communication between husband and wife or between any professional person and the person's patient or client, except between attorney and client, is abrogated' for child-abuse reporting and evidentiary purposes. This language is broad, but it operates on the patient/client relationship and the spousal relationship. The clergy spiritual-adviser exemption is written into § 50-25.1-03(1)'s duty clause, not framed as a standalone 'privilege of communication.' The abrogation statute therefore passes over it. The result is an asymmetry: every other professional mandated reporter must report information received in a professional capacity and cannot withhold it by invoking privilege; clergy retain an opt-out when the information came through spiritual advising.

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• Administrative Code carries the same exception

  The spiritual-adviser carveout is not an accident of drafting but a deliberate, multi-layered policy choice. N.D. Admin. Code § 75-03-18-11 (the child-protection assessment and appeals procedure) states that ordinary privileges do not bar evidence in assessment proceedings, but expressly excepts communications 'involving members of the clergy acting as spiritual advisers.' **The administrative code tracks the statutory carveout, so the preserved-privilege posture runs into administrative proceedings as well as the reporting duty.**

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• Rule of Evidence 505 preserves the privilege in court

  North Dakota Rule of Evidence 505 separately recognizes a religious privilege: 'An individual has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent another from disclosing a confidential communication by the individual to a cleric in the cleric's professional character as spiritual adviser.' **The evidentiary rules track the statutory carveout, so the preserved-privilege posture runs across civil, administrative, and evidentiary contexts.** Rule 505 is a testimonial privilege governing what can be compelled in a proceeding, not the reporting duty itself, so repealing the § 50-25.1-03(1) exemption sentence would attach the duty even though Rule 505 would survive.

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What it takes to close the gap.

How North Dakota got here.

• 1976
  Rule of Evidence 505 establishes a religious privilege

  North Dakota's religious privilege long predates the reporting statute. It was carried into N.D.R.Ev. 505 effective January 29, 1976, superseding N.D.C.C. § 31-01-06(2). A March 1, 2014 amendment was terminological only and expressly changed no evidentiary result.

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• 2021
  SB 2180 would have removed the carveout; did not advance

  Senate Bill 2180 (67th Legislative Assembly, 2021) would have deleted the spiritual-adviser exemption sentence from § 50-25.1-03(1) and made a parallel change to the vulnerable-adult reporting statute at § 50-25.2-03. As introduced, the bill did not advance; the spiritual-adviser carveout remains in § 50-25.1-03(1) today.

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Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• North Dakota Legislative Branch
  N.D.C.C. ch. 50-25.1 — Child Abuse and Neglect (section 50-25.1-03 anchor)

  Principal mandatory-reporting statute. Section 50-25.1-03(1) expressly names clergy as mandatory reporters and contains the spiritual-adviser carveout in its second sentence. Section 50-25.1-10 abrogates professional-client and spousal privileges. Section 50-25.1-13 sets the class B misdemeanor penalty for willful failure to report.

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• North Dakota Legislative Branch
  Chapter 50-25.1 Section Index — Child Abuse and Neglect

  Official HTML section index for ch. 50-25.1, confirming the operative section numbers and the canonical citation form 'N.D.C.C. § 50-25.1-03' on the legislature's .gov domain.

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• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau / Child Welfare Information Gateway· 2023
  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect (State Statutes Series, 2023)

  Federal HHS compilation classifying North Dakota as a state where clergy are expressly enumerated as mandated reporters and where the clergy-penitent privilege is granted but limited to pastoral communications.

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• North Dakota Department of Human Services (Adults and Aging Services)
  Mandatory Reporting: Abuse and Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult (Fact Sheet)

  State-agency fact sheet for the vulnerable-adult reporting framework. Lists clergy among mandated reporters with the note 'not required if knowledge is gained as a spiritual advisor,' confirming the agency reads the parallel carveout in § 50-25.2-03(1) as excusing the report.

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• North Dakota Legislative Branch / North Dakota Administrative Code
  Chapter 75-03-18 — Procedures for Appeal of Child Abuse or Neglect Assessments

  N.D. Admin. Code § 75-03-18-11 states that ordinary privileges do not bar evidence in child-protection assessment proceedings but expressly excepts matters involving members of the clergy acting as spiritual advisers. Confirms the preserved-privilege posture extends into administrative proceedings.

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• North Dakota Court System· Adopted 1976; current text effective March 1, 2014
  Rule 505 — Religious Privilege

  North Dakota Rule of Evidence 505 codifies a broad religious privilege for confidential communications to a cleric acting in a spiritual-adviser capacity. Reinforces the statutory carveout in § 50-25.1-03(1) at the evidentiary level.

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• North Dakota Legislative Branch· 2021-01-12
  Senate Bill No. 2180 (67th Legislative Assembly, 2021) — bill text 21.0015.01000

  Primary bill text on the legislature's .gov domain. Would have deleted the spiritual-adviser exemption sentence from § 50-25.1-03(1) and made a parallel change to § 50-25.2-03 (vulnerable adults). Withdrawn January 29, 2021 before any committee hearing. Direct evidence that repeal was formally proposed in 2021 and abandoned before any hearing: the carveout survives by legislative inaction under organized opposition, not by inadvertence.

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• Justia US Law
  North Dakota Century Code Title 50, Chapter 50-25.1 (Justia mirror)

  Justia mirror of N.D.C.C. ch. 50-25.1, used for cross-validation of the operative language in §§ 50-25.1-03, 50-25.1-10, and 50-25.1-13 against the ndlegis.gov canonical text.

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• North Dakota Legislative Branch· 2025
  2025 North Dakota Session Laws, Century Code Sections Affected index

  The Sections Affected indexes for the 68th (2023) and 69th (2025) regular sessions show § 50-25.1-03 was not amended in either session; no comparable clergy-reporter bill was found introduced after SB 2180 (2021).

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