§ 23-06-27 — Protection of human burial sites, human remains, and burial goods - Unlawful acts - Penalties - Exceptions

Unlawful acts - Penalties - Exceptions.
1. As used in this section:
a. "Burial goods" means any objects or items interred with human remains at the
time of burial.
b. "Disturb" means move, open, expose, dig up, disinter, excavate, remove, carry
away, damage, injure, deface, desecrate, loot, vandalize, mutilate, or destroy.
c. "Human burial site" means any place of interment, by any means, of human
remains or burial goods, which is designated by a grave marker or other burial
structure or which is not so designated, but is, in fact, discovered or believed to
exist on the basis of archaeological or historical evidence.
d. "Human remains" means any part of the body of a deceased human being in any
stage of decomposition.
e. "Land" means all lands, including submerged lands, located within the state of
North Dakota which are owned by the state or its political subdivisions, agencies,
or instrumentalities, or by any private person.
f. "Person" means a natural person, corporation, unincorporated association,
partnership, proprietorship, or governmental entity.

2. A person is guilty of a class C felony who, without authority of law, breaks open any
building wherein any body of a deceased human being is deposited while awaiting
burial, with the intent of either removing such human body, or any part thereof, or
stealing the coffin, or any part thereof, or anything attached thereto or connected
therewith, or the vestments or other articles intended to be buried with the human
body.
3. A person is guilty of a felony who, without authority of law, willfully, as defined in
section 12.1-02-02, disturbs a human burial site, human remains, or burial goods
found in or on any land, or attempts to do the same, or incites or procures the same to
be done.
a. A person is guilty of a class B felony if the offense in this subsection was
committed for monetary gain, whether or not such monetary gain was related to
the use of the land in or on which the burial, remains, or goods were disturbed.
b. A person is guilty of a class C felony if the offense in this subsection was not
committed for monetary gain.
4. Any person who knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that a human burial site,
human remains, or burial goods, found in or on any land, are being disturbed or may
be disturbed, by human activity without authority of law or by natural forces, shall
immediately notify the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in the area in
which the burial, remains, or goods are located. A person is guilty of a class B
misdemeanor who is required to provide such notification and willfully, as defined in
section 12.1-02-02, fails to provide the same.
5. Any person who knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that that person has
encountered or discovered a human burial site, human remains, or burial goods
associated with a human burial, in or on any land, shall refrain from any activity which
might disturb or immediately cease any continued activity which might cause further
disturbance of such burial, remains, or goods and shall, as soon as practicable, report
the presence or discovery of the burial, remains, or goods to the local law enforcement
agency with jurisdiction in the area in which the burial, remains, or goods are located.
A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor who is required to make such report and
willfully, as defined in section 12.1-02-02, fails to make the same. The requirements
imposed in this subsection do not apply to any person engaged in the salvaging
excavation or other disinterment of a human burial under authority of law.
6. Any person having been found guilty or having pleaded guilty, as a result of having
been charged with an offense under subsection 2 or 3, must be ordered to forfeit to the
state any and all human remains and burial goods acquired in connection with the
commission of the offense and may be ordered to forfeit to the state any and all
equipment used in connection with the commission of the offense. In addition, any
such person having been charged with an offense under subsection 3 must be ordered
to pay all reasonable costs actually incurred in the reinterment of the human remains
and burial goods so forfeited. In conjunction with the prosecution of any offense under
this subsection, the remains in question in the prosecution may, as deemed necessary,
be subjected to nonintrusive, nondestructive professional study for the exclusive
purpose of determining whether the remains are human.
7. Subsection 3 does not apply to the inadvertent disturbance of a human burial site,
human remains, or burial goods when the department of health and human services
and the state historical society have been notified of the disturbance and the human
remains and burial goods must be studied and reinterred pursuant to rules adopted by
the department of health and human services and the state historical society.
Subsection 3 also does not apply to situations in which the department of health and
human services and the state historical society are notified of the need to disinter and
move the contents of human burial sites that are recorded with the state historical
society to prevent the destruction of the human burial sites by actions including the
construction of highways, dams, reservoirs, coal mines, power generation and
transmission facilities, pipelines, farming practices, and other developments. Where
feasible, the developments should avoid disturbance of the human burial sites. In

these situations the disinterred human remains and burial goods must be studied and
reinterred pursuant to rules adopted by the department of health and human services
and the state historical society.