HINAC
(HIV IS NOT A Crime)
Timeline for change
in North Dakota
After years of hard work, passion, and dedication, in 2025, North Dakota became the fourth state in the nation, and first in the upper Midwest to modernize its HIV laws. With the help of a coalition of doctors, legislators, HIV advocates, health department directors, mental health practitioners, and several years of hard work, North Dakota finally decriminalized HIV.
Representative Gretchen Dobervich drafted first HIV Decriminalization bill HB 1106. During the 2021 legislative session the bipartisan bill is voted down 73 N to 18 Y in the House.
2021
Rep. Dobervich and members of the ND Department of Health and Human Services worked to modernize state HIV laws to reflect the advancements in science and medicine. Despite this work from partners and citizens, HB 1281 was voted down again in the House, 75 N to 18 Y.
2023
Work continues with a group of interested parties, people living with HIV, legislators, doctors, public health workers, advocates, mental health professionals, and faith leaders. The bipartisan bill (HB1217) is brought to the legislature, and finally passes the House (43 N to 50 Y), then moves over to the Senate passing with 13 N to 43 Y. Governor Armstrong signs HB 1217 into law in August of 2025.
2025
What is HIV criminalization?
HIV criminalization is the inappropriate arrest of people living with HIV under laws that single them out for felony punishment based on their disease status.
Why should HIV laws be modernized?
-
During the early years of the HIV epidemic many states, including North Dakota, enacted HIV criminal exposure laws as part of efforts to try to contain a poorly understood epidemic.
-
These laws were passed at a time of limited medical understanding of HIV; there were no effective treatments and HIV stigma was high.
-
After more than 40 years of HIV research and significant biomedical advances to treat and prevent HIV, North Dakota laws are now outdated.
Times have changed, we know that...
-
HIV laws have no public benefit; they do not reduce HIV transmission.
-
The laws don’t reflect modern science around transmission and advances in treatment.
-
They lead to unfair punishment.
-
They increase stigma and deter HIV testing and care, which works against ending the epidemic.
