ND HB 1613 (drone evidence limits extended to robots; no armed police robots)
North Dakota Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Robot Law (HB 1613)
North Dakota · N.D. Cent. Code ch. 29-29.4; 2025 N.D. Laws (HB 1613)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- August 1, 2025
- Applies to
- North Dakota law enforcement agencies and officers.
- Enforced by
- North Dakota courts (via suppression of improperly obtained evidence); no dedicated administrative enforcement agency.
North Dakota expanded its surveillance-by-drone chapter so the same rules now apply to 'robots' — powered, AI-driven machines or systems that can operate on their own. Information that law enforcement gathers using a robot is subject to the same evidentiary limits that already apply to information gathered by a drone. The law also bars law enforcement from using a robot or a drone to deploy a weapon or otherwise use force.
Who is protected: Individuals subject to North Dakota criminal investigations and the general public who could be surveilled by, or have force deployed against them by, a law-enforcement robot or drone.
Legal detail
HB 1613 amended N.D. Cent. Code ch. 29-29.4 (sections 29-29.4-01 through -06) to add 'robot' alongside unmanned aerial vehicles, extending the chapter's warrant/evidentiary restrictions to robot-gathered information and limiting law-enforcement weaponization via robot or drone.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | North Dakota |
|---|---|
| Level | State |
| Strength | Limited |
| Enacted | April 28, 2025 |
| Citation | N.D. Cent. Code ch. 29-29.4; 2025 N.D. Laws (HB 1613) |
| Penalties | None specified; the chapter operates primarily through evidentiary exclusion and operational limits. |
| Topics | police and surveillance AI · government use of AI |
| Statute | North Dakota Century Code Chapter 29-29.4 (Surveillance by UAV; Robots) / HB 1613 |
More AI rules in North Dakota
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- ND 12.1-17-07 (using a robot/AI to harass is a crime) · In effect
- ND 12.1-17-07.1 (stalking via robot/AI, e.g. tracking, is a crime) · In effect
- ND HB 1167 (political ads using AI to impersonate must say so) · In effect
- ND HB 1386 (CSAM laws cover computer-generated/AI images of minors) · In effect
- Artificial Intelligence Guideline · In effect
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