Smoking in public places and places of employment - Definitions
N.D. Cent. Code § 23-12-09
in effect23-12-09. Smoking in public places and places of employment - Definitions
In sections 23-12-09 through 23-12-11, unless the context or subject matter otherwise
requires:
1. "Bar" means a retail alcoholic beverage establishment licensed under chapter 5-02
that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the
premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of
those beverages. The term includes a bar located within a hotel, bowling center,
restaurant, or other establishment that is not licensed primarily or exclusively to sell
alcoholic beverages.
2. "Business" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, association, joint venture,
corporation, or other business entity, either for profit or not for profit, including retail
establishments where goods or services are sold and professional corporations and
other entities where professional services are delivered.
3. "E-cigarette" means any electronic oral device, such as one composed of a heating
element and battery or electronic circuit, or both, which provides a vapor of nicotine or
any other substances, and the use or inhalation of which simulates smoking. The term
shall include any such device, whether manufactured, distributed, marketed, or sold as
an e-cigarette, e-cigar, and e-pipe or under any other product, name, or descriptor.
4. "Employee" means an individual who is employed by an employer in consideration for
direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, or an individual who volunteers services for
an employer.
5. "Employer" means an individual, business, or private club, including a municipal
corporation or trust, or the state and its agencies and political subdivisions that
employs the services of one or more individuals.
6. "Enclosed area" means all space between a floor and ceiling that has thirty-three
percent or more of the surface area of its perimeter bounded by opened or closed
walls, windows, or doorways. A wall includes any physical barrier regardless of
whether it is opened or closed, temporary or permanent, or contains openings of any
kind, and includes retractable dividers and garage doors.
7. "Entrance" means an exterior door that actuates to the left or right which allows access
to a public place.
8. "Health care facility" means any office or institution providing health care services or
treatment of diseases, whether physical, mental or emotional, or other medical,
physiological or psychological conditions. Some examples of health care facilities
include hospitals; clinics; ambulatory surgery centers; outpatient care facilities; weight
control clinics; nursing homes; homes for the aging or chronically ill; nursing, basic,
long-term, or assisted living facilities; laboratories; and offices of any medical
professional licensed under title 43, including all specialties and subspecialties in
those fields. This definition shall include all waiting rooms, hallways, private rooms,
semiprivate rooms, wards within health care facilities, and any mobile or temporary
health care facilities.
9. "Health care services" means services provided by any health care facility. Some
examples of health care services are medical, surgical, dental, vision, chiropractic,
psychological, and pharmaceutical services.
10. "Place of employment" means an area under the control of a public or private
employer, including work areas, auditoriums, classrooms, conference rooms,
elevators, employee cafeterias, employee lounges, hallways, meeting rooms, private
offices, restrooms, temporary offices, vehicles, and stairs. A private residence is not a
place of employment unless it is used as a licensed child care, adult day care, or
health care facility.
11. "Public place" means an area which the public enters. Some examples of public
places are publicly owned buildings, vehicles, or offices; bars; bingo facilities; gambling
and gaming facilities as defined in section 12.1-28-01; child care and adult day care
facilities subject to licensure by the department of health and human services,
including those operated in private homes; convention facilities; educational facilities,
both public and private; facilities primarily used for exhibiting a motion picture, stage,
drama, lecture, musical recital, or other similar performance; financial institutions;
health care facilities; hotels and motels, including all rooms that are rented to guests;
laundromats; any common areas in apartment buildings, condominiums, mobile home
parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes, and other multiple-unit residential facilities;
private and semi-private nursing home rooms; museums, libraries, galleries, and
aquariums; polling places; professional offices; public transportation facilities, including
buses, trains, airplanes and similar aircraft, taxicabs and similar vehicles such as
towncars and limousines when used for public transportation, and ticket, boarding, and
waiting areas of public transit facilities, including bus and train stations and airports;
reception areas; restaurants; retail food production and marketing establishments;
retail service establishments; retail stores, including tobacco and hookah
establishments; rooms, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including
school buildings; shopping malls; sports arenas; theaters; and waiting rooms.
12. "Publicly owned building, vehicle, or office" means a place or vehicle owned, leased, or
rented by any state or political subdivision, or by any agency supported by
appropriation of, or by contracts or grants from, funds derived from the collection of
taxes.
13. "Restaurant" includes every building or other structure, or any part thereof, and all
buildings in connection therewith that are kept, used, maintained, advertised, or held
out to the public as a place where food is served. Some examples of restaurants
include coffee shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, private and public school cafeterias,
kitchens, and catering facilities in which food is prepared on the premises for serving
elsewhere, and a bar area within a restaurant.
14. "Shopping mall" means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to connect
retail or professional businesses.
15. "Smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar,
cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for
inhalation, in any manner or in any form. Smoking also includes the use of an
e-cigarette which creates a vapor, in any manner or any form, or the use of any oral
smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking in this Act.
16. "Sports arena" means an indoor or outdoor place where members of the public
assemble to engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition, or witness
sports or other events. Some examples of sports arenas include sports pavilions,
stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice
rinks, and bowling centers.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t23c12.pdf#nameddest=23-12-09Fetched: 10/16/2026