---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 51-07 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application."
description: "Relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nd"
legislature: "North Dakota Legislative Assembly"
session: "69"
identifier: "HB 1561"
citation: "North Dakota HB 1561 (69)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steve Swiontek"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 16
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-20"
last_action: "2025-04-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/68befc77-4068-4297-b3d2-9795ba7d8af0"
source_url: "https://ndlegis.gov/api/assembly/69-2025/data/bills.json"
source_hash: "1debf59c1564759b81f1fa3ace7757447d5116456ec196c185a66cb709952f2a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nd"]
---

# North Dakota HB 1561 (69) — AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 51-07 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application.

Relating to a commercial entity's liability for publishing or distributing sexual material harmful to a minor; to provide a penalty; and to provide for application.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **INTRODUCED** (filed) — [source](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0968-02000.pdf)
2. **Enrollment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0968-03000.pdf)

## Votes

- Motion for Final Passage on HB 1561 — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- Motion for Final Passage on HB 1561 — **46–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Steve Swiontek — primary (person)
- Anna S. Novak — cosponsor (person)
- Brandy L. Pyle — cosponsor (person)
- Glenn Bosch — cosponsor (person)
- Janne Myrdal — cosponsor (person)
- Jay Fisher — cosponsor (person)
- Jon O. Nelson — cosponsor (person)
- Judy Lee — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Karls — cosponsor (person)
- Kathy Hogan — cosponsor (person)
- Michelle Axtman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-20** Introduced, first reading, referred Judiciary Committee `introduction`
- **2025-02-04** Committee Hearing 10:00
- **2025-02-06** Reported back, do pass, place on calendar 11 0 3 `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-07** Second reading, passed, yeas 91 nays 0 `passage, reading-2`
- **2025-02-10** Received from House
- **2025-02-13** Introduced, first reading, referred Industry and Business Committee `introduction`
- **2025-03-18** Committee Hearing 02:30
- **2025-03-26** Reported back, do pass, place on calendar 5 0 0 `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-28** Laid over one legislative day
- **2025-04-01** Second reading, passed, yeas 46 nays 0 `passage, reading-2`
- **2025-04-02** Returned to House
- **2025-04-03** Signed by President
- **2025-04-08** Signed by Speaker
- **2025-04-08** Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-04-11** Signed by Governor 04/10 `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-14** Filed with Secretary Of State 04/11 `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/68befc77-4068-4297-b3d2-9795ba7d8af0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Dakota legislature records).