2009 North Dakota Code
23 Health and Safety
23-12 Public Health, Miscellaneous Provisions

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CHAPTER 23-12 PUBLIC HEALTH, MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 23-12-01. Disinfection of secondhand goods. Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 225, § 1. 23-12-02. Penalty for not disinfecting secondhand goods. Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673; S.L. 1975, ch. 225, § 1. 23-12-03. Use of public drinking cup prohibited - Penalty. Any person in charge of any: 1. Public conveyance; 2. Passenger terminal building; 3. Public, parochial, or private school, or other educational institution; or 4. Public building who furnishes or permits the common use of public drinking cups in such place is guilty of an<br>infraction. 23-12-04. Permission to establish hospital in residence block of city required. No hospital which treats patients for pay may be established in any residence block of any city in this<br>state unless the person, firm, corporation, or limited liability company proposing to establish the<br>same files with the city auditor the written consent of the resident freeholders of such block. 23-12-05. Advertising certain cures and drugs and specialization prohibited - Penalty. Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673. 23-12-06. Injury to public health - Penalty. Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673. 23-12-07. Violation of health laws - General penalty. Any person who willfully violates any provision of this title, if another penalty is not specifically provided for such violation, is guilty<br>of an infraction. 23-12-08. Emergency medical service authorized. Any county or municipality of the state of North Dakota, by itself, or in combination with any other county or municipality of the<br>state of North Dakota, may, acting through its governing body, establish, maintain, contract for, or<br>otherwise provide emergency medical service for such county or municipality; and for this<br>purpose, out of any funds of such county or municipality not otherwise committed, may buy, rent,<br>lease, or otherwise contract for all such vehicles, equipment, or other facilities or services which<br>may be necessary to effectuate such purpose. 23-12-09. Smoking in public places and places of employment - Definitions. In sections 23-12-09 through 23-12-11, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. &quot;Bar&quot; means a retail alcoholic beverage establishment licensed under chapter 5-02<br>that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on<br>the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption<br>of those beverages. The term includes a bar located within a hotel, bowling center,<br>or restaurant that is not licensed primarily or exclusively to sell alcoholic beverages if<br>the bar is in a separately enclosed area. 2. &quot;Business&quot; means a sole proprietorship, partnership, association, joint venture,<br>corporation, or other business entity, either for profit or not for profit, including retail<br>establishments where goods or services are sold and professional corporations and<br>other entities where professional services are delivered. Page No. 1 3. &quot;Employee&quot; means an individual who is employed by an employer in consideration<br>for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, or an individual who volunteers<br>services for an employer. 4. &quot;Employer&quot; means an individual, business, or the state and its agencies and political<br>subdivisions that employs the services of one or more individuals. 5. &quot;Enclosed area&quot; means all space between a floor and ceiling that is enclosed on all<br>sides by solid walls or windows, exclusive of doorways, which extend from the floor<br>to the ceiling. 6. &quot;Health care facility&quot; means any office or institution providing health care services,<br>including a hospital; clinic; ambulatory surgery center; outpatient care facility;<br>nursing, basic, or assisted living facility; and laboratory. 7. &quot;Health care services&quot; include medical, surgical, dental, vision, chiropractic, and<br>pharmaceutical services. 8. &quot;Place of employment&quot; means an area under the control of a public or private<br>employer that employees normally frequent during the course of employment,<br>including work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference rooms, elevators,<br>employee cafeterias, employee lounges, hallways, meeting rooms, private offices,<br>restrooms, and stairs. 9. &quot;Public place&quot; means an enclosed area to which the public has access or in which<br>the public is permitted, including a publicly owned building or office, and enclosed<br>areas available to and customarily used by the general public in businesses and<br>nonprofit entities patronized by the public, including bars; bingo facilities; child care<br>facilities subject to licensure by the department of human services, including those<br>operated in private homes when any child cared for under that license is present;<br>convention facilities; educational facilities, both public and private; facilities primarily<br>used for exhibiting a motion picture, stage, drama, lecture, musical recital, or other<br>similar performance; financial institutions; health care facilities; hotels and motels;<br>laundromats; any common areas in apartment buildings, condominiums, mobile<br>home parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes, and other multiple-unit residential<br>facilities; museums, libraries, galleries, and aquariums; polling places; professional<br>offices; public transportation facilities, including buses and taxicabs, and ticket,<br>boarding, and waiting areas of public transit depots; reception areas; restaurants;<br>retail food production and marketing establishments; retail service establishments;<br>retail stores; rooms, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including<br>school buildings; service lines; shopping malls; sports arenas, including enclosed<br>places in outdoor arenas; theaters; and waiting rooms. 10. &quot;Publicly owned building or office&quot; means a place owned, leased, or rented by any<br>state or political subdivision, or by any agency supported by appropriation of, or by<br>contracts or grants from, funds derived from the collection of taxes. 11. &quot;Restaurant&quot; includes every building or other structure, or any part thereof, and all<br>buildings in connection therewith that are kept, used, maintained, advertised, or held<br>out to the public as a place where food is served, including coffee shops, cafeterias,<br>private and public school cafeterias, kitchens, and catering facilities in which food is<br>prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere, and a bar area within a restaurant. 12. &quot;Retail tobacco store&quot; means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco<br>products and accessories and in which the sale of other products is merely<br>incidental. 13. &quot;Shopping mall&quot; means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to<br>connect retail or professional businesses. Page No. 2 14. &quot;Smoking&quot; means possessing a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, or any<br>other lighted tobacco product in any manner or in any form. 15. &quot;Sports arena&quot; means any facility or area, whether enclosed or outdoor, where<br>members of the public assemble to engage in physical exercise, participate in<br>athletic competition, or witness sports or other events, including sports pavilions,<br>stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice<br>rinks, and bowling centers. 16. &quot;Truckstop&quot; means a roadside service station and restaurant that caters to<br>truckdrivers. 23-12-10. Smoking restrictions - Exceptions - Retaliation - Application. 1. In order to protect the public health and welfare and to recognize the need for<br>individuals to breathe smoke-free air, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas of: a. Public places; and b. Places of employment. 2. The following areas are exempt from subsection 1: a. Private residences, except when operating as a child care facility subject to<br>licensure by the department of human services and when any child cared for<br>under that license is present in that facility. b. Hotel and motel rooms, and other places of lodging, that are rented to guests<br>and are designated as smoking rooms. c. Retail tobacco stores, provided that smoke from these places does not infiltrate<br>into areas where smoking is prohibited under this section. d. Outdoor areas of places of employment, except a sports arena. e. Any area that is not commonly accessible to the public and which is part of an<br>owner-operated business having no employee other than the owner-operator. f. Bars. g. Any place of public access rented or leased for private functions from which the<br>general public and children are excluded and arrangements for the function are<br>under the control of the function sponsor. h. Separately enclosed areas in truckstops which are accessible only to adults. 3. Smoking as part of a traditional American Indian spiritual or cultural ceremony is not<br>prohibited. 4. No person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate<br>against an employee, applicant for employment, or other person because that<br>person asserts or exercises any rights afforded by this section or reports or attempts<br>to prosecute a violation of this section. 5. This section may not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it is<br>otherwise restricted by other applicable laws. Page No. 3 6. Before October 1, 2007, the office of management and budget shall develop and<br>implement a uniform policy regarding smoking restrictions with respect to the<br>outdoor areas near the public entrances of all buildings on the state capitol grounds. 23-12-10.1. Responsibility of proprietors. Repealed by S.L. 2005, ch. 239, § 7. 23-12-10.2. Complaints and enforcement - City and county ordinances and home rule charters. 1. State agencies with statutory jurisdiction over a state-owned building or office shall<br>enforce section 23-12-10. These agencies include the fire marshal department, state department of health, department of human services, legislative council, and<br>office of management and budget. The agencies may mutually agree as to the<br>manner in which enforcement is to be accomplished and may adopt administrative<br>rules to ensure compliance with section 23-12-10, including referral of violations to<br>an appropriate law enforcement agency for enforcement pursuant to section<br>23-12-11. 2. A city or county ordinance, a city or county home rule charter, or an ordinance<br>adopted under a home rule charter may not provide for less stringent provisions than<br>those provided under sections 23-12-09 through 23-12-11. Nothing in this Act shall<br>preempt or otherwise affect any other state or local tobacco control law that provides<br>more stringent protection from the hazards of environmental tobacco smoke. This<br>subsection does not preclude any city or county from enacting any ordinance<br>containing penal language when otherwise authorized to do so by law. 23-12-10.3. Exceptions - Medical necessity. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other state or local law, a patient may smoke<br>in a hospital licensed by the state or on the grounds of a hospital licensed by the<br>state if the patient's attending physician authorizes the activity based on medical<br>policies adopted by the hospital organized medical staff. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other state or local law, a resident of a<br>licensed basic care facility or a licensed nursing facility may smoke in the facility or<br>on the grounds of the facility if approved by the board of the facility. 23-12-11. Penalty. 1. An individual who smokes in an area in which smoking is prohibited under section<br>23-12-10 is guilty of an infraction. 2. An owner or other person with general supervisory responsibility over a public place<br>or place of employment who willfully fails to comply with section 23-12-10 is guilty of<br>an infraction, subject to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars for the first<br>violation, to a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars for a second violation within<br>one year, and a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars for each additional violation<br>within one year of the preceding violation. 23-12-12. Federal Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 applicable in North Dakota. Pursuant to the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 [Pub. L. 99-660, Title IV;<br>100 Stat. 3784; 42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.], providing for a limitation on damages for professional<br>review actions, the provisions of that Act are effective in this state. 23-12-13. Persons authorized to provide informed consent to health care for incapacitated persons - Priority. 1. Informed consent for health care for a minor patient or a patient who is determined<br>by a physician to be an incapacitated person, as defined in subsection 2 of section Page No. 4 30.1-26-01, and unable to consent may be obtained from a person authorized to<br>consent on behalf of the patient. Persons in the following classes and in the following order of priority may provide informed consent to health care on behalf of<br>the patient: a. The individual, if any, to whom the patient has given a durable power of<br>attorney that encompasses the authority to make health care decisions, unless<br>a court of competent jurisdiction specifically authorizes a guardian to make<br>medical decisions for the incapacitated person; b. The appointed guardian or custodian of the patient, if any; c. The patient's spouse who has maintained significant contacts with the<br>incapacitated person; d. Children of the patient who are at least eighteen years of age and who have<br>maintained significant contacts with the incapacitated person; e. Parents of the patient, including a stepparent who has maintained significant<br>contacts with the incapacitated person; f. Adult brothers and sisters of the patient who have maintained significant<br>contacts with the incapacitated person; g. Grandparents of the patient who have maintained significant contacts with the<br>incapacitated person; h. Grandchildren of the patient who are at least eighteen years of age and who<br>have maintained significant contacts with the incapacitated person; or i. A close relative or friend of the patient who is at least eighteen years of age and<br>who has maintained significant contacts with the incapacitated person. 2. A physician seeking informed consent for proposed health care for a minor patient or<br>a patient who is an incapacitated person and is unable to consent must make<br>reasonable efforts to locate and secure authorization for the health care from a<br>competent person in the first or succeeding class identified in subsection 1. If the<br>physician is unable to locate such person, authorization may be given by any person<br>in the next class in the order of descending priority. A person identified in subsection<br>1 may not provide informed consent to health care if a person of higher priority has<br>refused to give such authorization. 3. Before any person authorized to provide informed consent pursuant to this section<br>exercises that authority, the person must first determine in good faith that the<br>patient, if not incapacitated, would consent to the proposed health care. If such a<br>determination cannot be made, the decision to consent to the proposed health care<br>may be made only after determining that the proposed health care is in the patient's<br>best interests. 4. No person authorized to provide informed consent pursuant to this section may<br>provide consent for sterilization, abortion, or psychosurgery or for admission to a<br>state mental health facility for a period of more than forty-five days without a mental<br>health proceeding or other court order. 5. If a patient who is determined by a physician to be an incapacitated person, or a<br>person interested in the patient's welfare, objects to a determination of incapacity<br>made pursuant to this section, a court hearing pursuant to chapter 30.1-28 must be<br>held to determine the issue of incapacity. Page No. 5 23-12-14. Copies of medical records. 1. As used in this section, &quot;health care provider&quot; means a licensed individual or<br>licensed facility providing health care services. Upon the request of a health care<br>provider's patient or any person authorized by a patient, the provider shall provide a<br>free copy of a patient's health care records to a health care provider designated by<br>the patient or the person authorized by the patient if the records are requested for<br>the purpose of transferring that patient's health care to another health care provider<br>for the continuation of treatment. 2. Except as provided in subsection 1, upon the request for medical records with the<br>signed authorization of the patient, the health care provider shall provide medical<br>records at a charge of no more than twenty dollars for the first twenty-five pages and<br>seventy-five cents per page after twenty-five pages. This charge includes any administration fee, retrieval fee, and postage expense. 23-12-15. State agency provision of medical equipment - Policy for reuse, recycling, or resale. If a state agency uses state funds to provide free medical equipment to an<br>individual, that state agency shall establish a policy addressing the possible reuse, recycling, or<br>resale value of the medical equipment upon replacement of the medical equipment by that state<br>agency or upon disuse of the medical equipment by the individual. 23-12-16. Right to breastfeed. If the woman acts in a discreet and modest manner, a woman may breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, where the woman and child<br>are otherwise authorized to be. 23-12-17. Workplace breastfeeding policies - Infant friendly designation. 1. An employer may use the designation &quot;infant friendly&quot; on its promotional materials if<br>the employer adopts a workplace breastfeeding policy that includes the following: a. Flexible work scheduling, including scheduling breaks and permitting work<br>patterns that provide time for expression of breast milk; b. A convenient, sanitary, safe, and private location, other than a restroom,<br>allowing privacy for breastfeeding or expressing breast milk; c. A convenient clean and safe water source with facilities for washing hands and<br>rinsing breast-pumping equipment located in the private location specified in<br>subdivision b; and d. A convenient hygienic refrigerator in the workplace for the temporary storage of<br>the mother's breast milk. 2. The state department of health shall establish guidelines for employers concerning<br>workplace breastfeeding and infant friendly designations. 23-12-18. Medical facility and provider performance reviews and ratings - Notice. 1. If a medical facility or provider in this state has a performance review that results in<br>the receipt of a rating, and at any time pays a fee to the person completing the<br>rating, the medical facility or provider shall include a public notice in any promotional<br>or marketing activities referring to the rating information stating that the medical<br>facility or provider made a payment and stating the amount of that payment made to<br>the person performing the rating. 2. Subsection 1 does not apply to a performance review required to maintain licensure<br>or accreditation by governmental or third-party payers or to maintain accreditation by<br>a quality assurance organization. Page No. 6 Document Outline chapter 23-12 public health, miscellaneous provisions

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