§ 12.1-08-06 — Escape

1. A person is guilty of escape if, without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts
to remove himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention following
temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period. A person who is
subject to official detention under this section is guilty of escape, if while outside the
state of North Dakota and without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts to
remove himself from official detention, or fails to return to official detention following
temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period, when at the time the
person is in the legal custody of a warden of the penitentiary, department of
corrections and rehabilitation, or other competent authority by virtue of a lawful
commitment to official detention.
2. Escape is a class B felony if the actor uses a firearm, destructive device, or other
dangerous weapon in effecting or attempting to effect the actor's removal from official
detention. Escape is a class C felony if:
a. The actor uses any other force or threat of force against another in effecting or
attempting to effect the actor's removal from official detention; or
b. The person escaping was in official detention by virtue of the person's arrest for,
or on charge of, a felony, or pursuant to the person's conviction of any offense.
Otherwise escape is a class A misdemeanor.
3. In this section:
a. "Conviction of an offense" does not include an adjudication of juvenile
delinquency.
b. "Official detention" means arrest, custody following surrender in lieu of arrest,
detention in any facility for custody of persons under charge or conviction of an
offense or alleged or found to be delinquent, detention under a law authorizing
civil commitment in lieu of criminal proceedings or authorizing such detention
while criminal proceedings are held in abeyance, detention for extradition, home
detention as authorized by chapter 12-67, or custody for purposes incident to the
foregoing, including transportation, medical diagnosis or treatment, court
appearances, work, and recreation, or being absent without permission from any
release granted while under custody of a sentence such as work or education
release, community confinement, or other temporary leaves from a correctional or

placement facility. "Official detention" does not include supervision on probation
or parole or constraint incidental to release.
4. Irregularity in bringing about or maintaining detention, or lack of jurisdiction of the
committing or detaining authority, shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this
section if the escape is from the penitentiary or other facility used for official detention
or from detention pursuant to commitment by an official proceeding. In the case of
other detentions, irregularity or lack of jurisdiction shall be an affirmative defense if:
a. The escape involved no substantial risk of harm to the person or property of
anyone other than the detainee; or
b. The detaining authority did not act in good faith under color of law.
5. The jurisdiction of a violation of this section when the person is in the legal custody of
a warden of the penitentiary, the department of corrections and rehabilitation, or other
lawful authority is in the county where the violation occurred if the violation occurred
within this state, and is in Burleigh County or in the county in which the order
committing the person to official detention was entered if the violation occurred outside
this state.