North Dakota Code 54-52-26 – Confidentiality of records
All records relating to the retirement benefits of a member or a beneficiary under this chapter, chapter 54-52.2, and chapter 54-52.6 are confidential and are not public records.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 54-52-26
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
- year: means twelve consecutive months. See North Dakota Code 1-01-33
Information and records may be disclosed, under rules adopted by the board, only to:
1. A person to whom the member has given written consent to have the information disclosed.
2. A person legally representing the member, upon proper proof of representation, and unless the member specifically withholds consent.
3. A person authorized by a court order.
4. A member’s participating employer, limited to information concerning the member’s years of service credit and years of age. The board may share other types of information as needed by the employer to validate the employer’s compliance with existing state or federal laws. Any information provided to the member’s participating employer under this subsection must remain confidential except as provided under subsection 6.
5. The administrative staff of the retirement and investment office for purposes relating to membership and benefits determination.
6. State or federal agencies for purposes of reporting on a service provider’s provision of services or when the employer must supply information to an agency to validate the employer’s compliance with existing state or federal laws.
7. Member interest groups approved by the board on a third-party blind list basis, limited to information concerning the member’s participation, name, and address.
8. The member’s spouse or former spouse, that individual‘s legal representative, and the judge presiding over the member’s dissolution proceeding for purposes of aiding the parties in drafting a qualified domestic relations order under section 54-52-17.6. The information disclosed under this subsection must be limited to information necessary for drafting the order.
9. Beneficiaries designated by a participating member or a former participating member to receive benefits after the member’s death, but only after the member’s death. Information relating to beneficiaries may be disclosed to other beneficiaries of the same member.
10. The general public, but only after the board has been unable to locate the member for a period in excess of one year, and limited to the member’s name and the fact the board has been unable to locate the member.
11. Any person if the board determines disclosure is necessary for treatment, operational, or payment purposes, including the completion of necessary documents.
12. A government child support enforcement agency for purposes of establishing paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation of the member.
13. A person if the information relates to an employer service purchase, but the information must be limited to the member’s name and employer, the retirement program in which the member participates, the amount of service credit purchased by the employer, and the total amount expended by the employer for that service credit purchase, and that information may only be obtained from the member’s employer.