North Dakota Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under North Dakota's service animal law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities can bring service animals to all "public accommodations," including stores, businesses, motels, and restaurants.

Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered and which animals qualify as service animals under North Dakota law and the ADA. We'll also discuss when state and federal laws cover emotional support animals (ESAs).

Which Places in North Dakota Count as Public Accommodations?

In North Dakota, you can bring your service animal into any public accommodation, health care facility, transportation service, or any other place where the public is generally invited. (N.D. Cent. Code § 25-13-02.) All of the following fall within this definition:

• shops, including supermarkets
• service establishments, like a dry cleaner or beauty parlor
• office buildings the public enters (such as an accountant or lawyer's office)
• hospitals, and
• sports stadiums and arenas.

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. It includes most private establishments that affect commerce and to which the public has access. (42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).) That includes all the following establishments:

• schools and daycare centers
• grocery stores, bakeries, and retail shops
• restaurants and bars
• theaters and concert halls, and
• gyms, spas, golf courses, and bowling alleys.

The ADA doesn't include religious organizations (like churches, synagogues, and temples) in this definition—even if they offer secular services like a daycare center that's available to nonmembers. And private clubs aren't considered public accommodations under the ADA, except in areas open to the general public. (28 C.F. R. § 36.102(e).)

Which Animals Are Service Animals in North Dakota?

North Dakota's Human Rights Law defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. (N.D. Cent. Code § 14-02.4-02.) Because of this definition, the state's service animal law covers dogs trained to assist individuals with any disability—whether physical or mental.

North Dakota law defines service animals as dogs trained to perform tasks, do work, or provide assistance to people with a disability. The law lists some examples of these tasks, including:

• retrieving dropped items
• providing support for balance
• pulling a wheelchair, or
• providing assistance in a medical crisis. (N.D. Cent. Code § 25-13-01.1.)

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. In addition to hearing dogs and guide dogs, here are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:

• psychiatric service animals, which help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by, for example, interrupting self-harming behaviors, reminding handlers to take medication, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks
• seizure alert animals, which let their handlers know of impending seizures, and might also guard their handlers during seizure activity, and
• allergen alert animals, which let their handlers know of foods or other substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

Neither North Dakota law nor the ADA covers pets.

Emotional Support Animals vs. Service Animals in North Dakota Law

Emotional support animals (ESAs) can be dogs or other animals that provide comfort, companionship, and a sense of safety to individuals with psychiatric or emotional conditions. While ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they're not considered service animals under North Dakota law or the ADA, because they aren't individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers."

So, the owners of public accommodations aren't required to admit emotional support animals, only service animals. But state and federal laws do cover ESAs in housing. (See "Service Animals and ESAs in North Dakota Housing" below.)

Rules for Your Service Animal in North Dakota

Under the ADA, a public accommodation can't ask you about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. If it's not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask only whether it's a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. (28 CFR 36.302(c)(6).)

North Dakota law also requires public accommodations to admit trainers with service animals in training, if the trainer does all of the following:

• notifies the onsite manager that they're bringing a service animal in training into the public accommodation
• wears a photo I.D. issued by a nationally recognized service animal training program, and
• accepts financial responsibility for any damage the animal does to the premises. (N.D. Cent. Code § 25-13-02.1.)

But state law doesn't require service animals or service animals in training to wear special collars, vests, capes, tags, or leashes identifying them as service animals.

The ADA and North Dakota law prohibit public accommodations from charging a special admission fee or requiring you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. But you'll likely have to pay for any damage your animal causes, as North Dakota law holds you liable for any harm done to the premises or facility.

Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out. Your animal can also be excluded if it's not housebroken, or it's out of control and you're unable to control it. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(2).)

North Dakota law doesn't permit public accommodations to exclude your service dog. In fact, it's a class A misdemeanor for a public accommodation to deny admittance to someone accompanied by a service animal. (N.D. Cent. Code § 23-13-04.)

Service Animals and ESAs in North Dakota Housing

Both the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and North Dakota law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals.

Under the FHA, housing facilities can't turn you away just because you have a disability. And housing providers must allow "assistance animals," which include service dogs and emotional support animals—if someone with a disability needs the animal to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.

To fall under this provision, you must have a disability and you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify.

You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord can't charge you extra for having an animal (although you might have to pay for damage your animal causes).

If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your service animal or ESA, if you need one. If you have a disability-related need for your assistance animal, having one falls under the FHA's "reasonable accommodation" rules, so your landlord can't charge extra for your service or emotional support animal.

But under North Dakota law, your landlord can ask you to provide reliable documentation (from a physician or other medical professional) of your disability and the relationship between your disability and your need for a service or assistance animal as an accommodation. (N.D. Cent. Code § 47-16-07.5.) But the state rental property law bars your landlord from demanding this proof if your disability-related need for the animal is apparent or already known to the landlord.

The FHA also allows a housing provider to ask for documentation of your disability or your disability-related need for the service animal or ESA—but only if it isn't apparent.

So, if you're blind and use a guide dog for navigation, your landlord probably can't request documentation. But if you need an emotional support cat or an allergen-alert dog, you might have to provide proof.

(To learn more, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animals page at HUD.gov.)