North Dakota Background Check Guide · 2025
Whether you're chasing an oil-services job in the Bakken, a hospital position in Fargo or Bismarck, a faculty role at NDSU, or a teaching license through the Department of Public Instruction, the employer is pulling your record from the same place: the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), housed within the Office of the Attorney General. The BCI lets you request the same record on yourself for a flat $15.
This guide explains how North Dakota's criminal record system works, what shows up, and how Chapter 12-60.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, the state's record-sealing statute, can clear eligible records from your file.
North Dakota's criminal record system is small but real: 53 counties, a half-dozen oil-patch counties with high turnover, and tribal-court systems that don't feed the state database. With that geography and population mix, running a self-check is the cleanest way to know what's actually in your file.
The BCI's criminal history database pulls in data from county sheriff's departments, the Highway Patrol, municipal police, and the state court system. Disposition gaps are common particularly in rural counties and oil-patch cases that move between jurisdictions. The $15 self-check identifies these, and the BCI has a formal dispute process.
A sealing order from a North Dakota district court has to make its way to the BCI to actually remove the record from the state file. Running a self-check 30–60 days after the court grants sealing confirms the record was actually cleared statewide.
Oil and gas employers in the Bakken, healthcare networks, and licensing boards (nursing, medicine, real estate) all run fingerprint-based or BCI checks. Knowing what's on your record in advance lets you address concerns proactively rather than reacting to a denial.
Fargo, Bismarck, and the oil-patch cities have tight rental markets where commercial screening reports are standard. The underlying data comes from BCI and court records. Fixing errors at the source means cleaner reports going forward.
Felony convictions and most misdemeanor convictions processed in North Dakota district and municipal courts appear on the BCI record unless sealed. The report shows offense, court, conviction date, and sentence.
Arrest records, including arrests not leading to conviction, appear on the BCI record. Non-conviction records are eligible for closure under NDCC 12-60.1 procedures.
Open and pending charges appear on the BCI record. If a case was dismissed and the disposition wasn't transmitted to the BCI, the record may still show "pending" until corrected.
Federal court records, out-of-state convictions, juvenile records (sealed), most traffic offenses (excluding DUI), tribal court records, and civil cases fall outside the BCI system. A complete personal check usually combines the state report with federal and multi-state sources.
Download the Request for Criminal History Record Information form from attorneygeneral.nd.gov, complete it, and mail it to the BCI in Bismarck with $15 by money order or cashier's check. Eligible nonprofits can apply for fee reduction. Turnaround is typically 2–4 weeks.
For the most accurate record, and what licensed professions require, submit fingerprints to the BCI. Total cost varies depending on whether you submit to the BCI directly ($15 state portion) or through a vendor (which adds fingerprinting fees). FBI portion is set by the federal agency.
The North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry at publicsearch.ndcourts.gov provides free public access to district and municipal court records. This catches case histories that may not yet be in the BCI database.
For a single report combining ND BCI data with federal courts, multi-state records, and sex offender registries, a professional service is fastest. Background-Check.com consolidates all of this in one report.
For nationwide coverage based on fingerprints, request an Identity History Summary directly from the FBI. Essential if you've lived in multiple states or want comprehensive employer-level visibility.
Enacted by HB 1166 in 2019 and updated in subsequent sessions, North Dakota's record-sealing statute is petition-based. Waiting periods from completion of sentence (including probation):
Excluded offenses include violent felonies, sex offenses, and offenses requiring sex offender registration. The petition is filed in the existing criminal case.
Establishes the BCI's authority to maintain the state criminal history record system and process record-check requests, including the $15 fee.
North Dakota has not passed a statewide Ban the Box law. Private employers can ask about criminal history on initial job applications. Some state agencies operate under their own internal Ban the Box policies, but there is no statewide statute.
Third-party background checks in North Dakota are governed by the FCRA: written consent required, pre-adverse-action notice required, right to dispute errors, and 7-year cap on non-conviction reporting.
North Dakota law allows the use of criminal records in licensing and employment decisions but requires consideration of factors including rehabilitation, time elapsed, and relevance of the offense to the job, language similar to EEOC individualized-assessment guidance.
North Dakota's five recognized tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA Nation), Standing Rock Sioux, Spirit Lake, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and Sisseton-Wahpeton, operate tribal courts whose records are not in the BCI state database and not subject to NDCC 12-60.1 sealing.
For $15, the answer is yes, particularly if you have any older conviction that might now be eligible for sealing under NDCC 12-60.1, any arrest you're not sure was closed, or a sealing order you've never verified at the state level. North Dakota's licensed professions and oil-patch employers run thorough checks, and confirming your record in advance avoids surprises.
For a comprehensive personal report combining ND BCI data with federal records, sex offender registries, and out-of-state convictions, run a multi-source check through Background-Check.com.
The official route is the BCI name-based check: $15 by mail-in request, 2–4 weeks turnaround. For broader coverage, request a fingerprint-based check, search the ND Courts Records Inquiry online, or use a professional multi-state service.
North Dakota has no state cap on conviction reporting. The federal FCRA caps non-conviction records (arrests not leading to conviction) at 7 years on third-party employment reports. Sealed records are removed entirely.
Records sealed under NDCC Chapter 12-60.1 should be removed from the BCI database and should not appear on FCRA-compliant employer background reports. Because ND sealings aren't automatic, verify yours was processed by running a self-check after the court order.
BCI name-based check: $15. Fingerprint-based (state + FBI + vendor fingerprinting): varies, typically $30–$60. FBI Identity History Summary: $18. Professional comprehensive multi-state checks: $20 to $80.
Yes, when they use a third-party background check company, the federal FCRA requires written authorization. North Dakota has no statewide Ban the Box law, so private employers can ask about criminal history on initial applications. You always have the right to see any report used in a hiring decision and dispute inaccuracies.