State to be named in action - Personal liability and defense of employees - Indemnification of claims and final judgments
N.D. Cent. Code § 32-12.2-03
in effect32-12.2-03. State to be named in action - Personal liability and defense of employees -
Indemnification of claims and final judgments.
1. An action for an injury proximately caused by the alleged negligence, wrongful act, or
omission of a state employee occurring within the scope of the employee's
employment must be brought against the state.
2. A state employee is not personally liable for money damages for an injury when the
injury is proximately caused by the negligence, wrongful act, or omission of the
employee acting within the scope of employment.
3. A state employee may not be held liable in the employee's personal capacity for acts
or omissions of the employee occurring within the scope of the employee's
employment. A state employee may be personally liable for money damages for an
injury when the injury is proximately caused by the negligence, wrongful act, or
omission of the employee acting outside the scope of the employee's employment.
The plaintiff in such an action bears the burden of proof to show by clear and
convincing evidence that the employee was acting outside the scope of the
employee's employment. The extent to which an employee may be personally liable
under this section and whether the employee was acting within the scope of
employment must be specifically stated in a final judgment.
4. Except for claims or judgments for punitive damages, the state shall indemnify and
save harmless a state employee for any claim, whether groundless or not, and final
judgment for any act or omission occurring within the scope of employment of the
employee if the employee provides complete disclosure and cooperation in the
defense of the claim or demand and if the employee has given written notice of the
claim or demand to the head of the state entity that employs the state employee and to
the attorney general within ten days after being served with a summons, complaint, or
other legal pleading asserting that claim or demand against the state employee.
5. A judgment in a claim against the state is a complete bar to any claim by the claimant,
resulting from the same injury, against the employee whose act or omission gave rise
to the claim.
6. The state shall defend any state employee in connection with any civil claim or
demand, whether groundless or otherwise, arising out of an alleged act or omission
occurring within the scope of the employee's employment if the employee provides
complete disclosure and cooperation in the defense of the claim or demand and if the
employee requests such defense in writing within ten days after being served with a
summons, complaint, or other legal pleading asserting a cause of action against the
state employee arising out of a civil claim or demand. The request for defense must be
in writing and provided to the head of the state entity that employs the state employee
and the attorney general. The head of the state entity that employs the state employee
shall advise the attorney general as to whether that person deems the employee's
actions that are the subject of the action to have been within the scope of the
employee's employment. The determination of whether a state employee was acting
within the scope of employment must be made by the attorney general. If the attorney
general determines that the employee was acting within the scope of the employee's
employment, the state shall provide the employee with a defense by or under the
control of the attorney general or the attorney general's appointee. This section is not a
waiver, limitation, or modification of any immunity or other defenses of the state or any
of its employees, nor does it create any causes of action against the state or any of its
employees.
7. For any claim brought under this chapter, a state employee may choose to hire the
employee's own separate defense counsel to represent the state employee in the
litigation. If the state employee chooses to hire separate defense counsel,
subsections 4 and 6 do not apply to the state employee in that litigation and the state
will not indemnify, save harmless, or defend the state employee nor pay for the state
employee's defense or any judgment against the state employee.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t32c12-2.pdf#nameddest=32-12p2-03Fetched: 10/16/2026