§ 39-01-19 — Permits for vending machines at rest areas

A vending machine that allows access to a tobacco product may not be placed or remain
upon a rest area, and any other vending machine may not be placed or remain upon a rest area

under the supervision of the director without a permit from the director. The director shall charge
a fee for the issuance of a vending machine permit. The amount of the permit fee must relate to
the department's actual cost of administration, annual review, and enforcement of the permit
process, but may not exceed twenty-five dollars annually. The permit process may not be
affected by the content of a publication. The director shall require permittees to comply with
appropriate indemnification, insurance, and other risk management provisions of the permit.
Vending machines must be secured in a manner that prevents tipping and moving, deters theft,
and leaves state property undamaged. Plexiglass, safety glass, or other shatter-resistant
materials must be employed in windows or displays. All vending machines must be sufficiently
enclosed to prevent the distributed product from inadvertently being removed or blown from the
machine or weathered by the elements. Stolen or damaged vending machines do not result in
liability to the department and must be repaired, restored, or replaced within thirty calendar
days. All cashboxes and accesses to cashboxes must be metal and securely locked in place. All
vending machines must be placed in a well-lighted area visible from the rest area roadway. All
vending machines must be placed on a route allowing parallel access by motorized or standard
wheelchairs, with at least sixty-six inches [1676.400 millimeters] of clear width. A vending
machine may not have a component or function used by the public which requires more than
five pounds [2.268 kilograms] of force to be applied. The height of controls, doors, or access
points necessary for use by the public may not exceed sixty inches [1524 millimeters]. The
director may determine the maximum number of vending machine placements at a given rest
area. Priority must be given to vending machines placed pursuant to the Randolph Sheppard
Act [Pub. L. 74-732; 49 Stat. 1559; 20 U.S.C. 107], as administered by the vocational
rehabilitation division of the department of health and human services under section 50-06.1-13.
When, after allowing for the placement of vending machines pursuant to the Randolph
Sheppard Act [Pub. L. 74-732; 49 Stat. 1559; 20 U.S.C. 107], the director determines that the
number of permit applications for a particular rest area would exceed the remaining available
space or would prevent compliance with this section or other law, the director shall grant permits
by means of a lottery, with permits allocated pro rata according to the number of applications for
each type. The permittee is solely responsible to ensure that any trash, wrapping, boxes, or
debris, generated when stocking or servicing vending machines is not left on or at the rest area.
The permittee is solely responsible for all installation, maintenance, replacement, inspection,
access area cleaning, and stocking of vending machines. Vandalism and graffiti on vending
machines must be repaired or removed within fourteen days of written notice by the director.
The permittee must inspect and stock vending machines as needed, but at least monthly, to
provide adequate service to the public. Vending machines removed for repair or for other
reasons must be restored or replaced by the permittee within thirty days. Vending machines in
violation of this section or any other applicable law may be removed by the director fourteen
days after notice of violation is provided and without liability to the director. Vending machines
judged by the director to pose a risk to safety may be removed immediately without liability to
the director and without prior notice to the permittee. The director shall retain any removed
vending machines for thirty days to allow retrieval by the permittee, after compensation to the
director for removal costs. The director may dispose of or sell machines not retrieved within
thirty days of removal, but removal costs must be satisfied only to the extent of proceeds
received by the director. The director has a cause of action to recover any deficiency, attorney's
fees, and litigation expenses. The director, upon the determination that a rest area must be
closed for a period of greater than thirty days, may order the permittee, at the permittee's
expense, to remove all vending machines in a manner that does not damage state property, or
remove all product and money and place upon the vending machine a prominent notice that all
product and money have been removed. Should the director determine that removal of vending
machines is necessary to conduct repairs, construction, surveys, or other duties of the
department, the permittee, at the permittee's expense, shall remove all vending machines in a
manner that does not damage state property, upon fourteen days' notice. The current address
and telephone number where customer service or business is conducted by the permittee must
be legibly and prominently posted upon the vending machine. The director shall cancel the
permit should the permittee remove vending machines, except as provided in this section. The
cost of any removal must be borne by the permittee. The permittee, at the permittee's own

expense, must restore the site the machine formerly occupied to the satisfaction of the director.
For purposes of this section, "vending machine" means any device that allows access to a
newspaper, magazine, beverage, concession, or other item for public consumption or use. For
purposes of this section, "permittee" means any person or organization, including any
corporation, partnership, firm, or any other legal entity capable of owning property and
transacting business, which has applied for a permit under this chapter. For purposes of this
section, "notice" consists of a written communication and must be deemed to have occurred
within seventy-two hours of mailing, if mailed within North Dakota, or one hundred twenty hours
of mailing, if mailed outside North Dakota. "Notice" to a vendor of the condition of a vending
machine also occurs if a period of time greater than the required inspection interval for the
vending machines has passed.