The department may authorize the reduction or writing off of a recipient’s or patient’s past-due account from the department’s financial records upon making a determination that the account is not collectible.

The office of management and budget shall establish and maintain a procurement information website on the internet. This procurement information website must provide current information regarding North Dakota government procurement opportunities in order to inform potential vendors of the commodities and services sought by state agencies and institutions. Notwithstanding section 54-44.4-09, for each purchase of services or commodities over the amount established for small purchases, the office of management and budget and every purchasing agency shall provide procurement information on the website.

1. The office of management and budget, any other state entity, and the governing body of any political subdivision of the state in purchasing any goods, merchandise, supplies, or equipment of any kind, or contracting to build or repair any building, structure, road, or other real property, shall give preference to bidders, sellers, or contractors resident in North Dakota. The preference must be equal to the preference given or required by the state of the nonresident bidder, seller, or contractor.
2. A state entity authorized to accept bids shall give preference to a resident North Dakota bidder when accepting bids for the provision of professional services, including research and consulting services. The preference must be equal to the preference given or required by the state of the nonresident bidder.
3. The office of management and budget, any other state entity, and the governing body of any political subdivision of the state in specifying or purchasing any goods, merchandise, supplies, or equipment, may not specify any trademarked or copyrighted brand or name, nor the product of any one manufacturer, nor any patented product, apparatus, device, or equipment, when the same will prevent proper competition, unless bidders also are asked for bids or offers upon other articles of like nature, utility, and merit. When it is advantageous that the purchase be of a particular brand of product or products of a particular manufacturer to the exclusion of competitive brands or manufacturers, the purchasing board or entity must document those circumstances and provide written justification for the proprietary specification or purchase. The purchasing board or entity shall procure the proprietary product through a competitive process unless the needed product is available exclusively from one source of supply or other circumstances exist under which competition can be waived.

It is the purpose of this chapter to establish a system for planning, coordinating, and providing comprehensive human services administered by county social service boards and human service centers. This chapter must be construed to effectuate the following public purposes:
1. To help individuals or their families to achieve, maintain, or support the highest attainable level of personal independence and economic self-sufficiency.
2. To prevent, remedy, or alleviate neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults unable to protect their own interests.
3. To provide a continuum of community-based services adequate to appropriately sustain individuals in their homes and in their communities and to delay or prevent institutional care.
4. To preserve, rehabilitate, and reunite families.
5. To assist in securing referral or admission of individuals to institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate.

Definitions related to ND’s Comprehensive Human Services Provisions

Each person eligible for services under this chapter, or the person’s representative, must be free to choose among available qualified service providers that offer competitively priced services. The county agency shall inform each eligible applicant for services, provided under this chapter, of the identity of qualified service providers available to provide the service required by the applicant. The county agency shall make and document reasonable efforts to inform potential service providers of the anticipated need for services in the county.

Provides confidentiality of trade secret, proprietary, commercial, financial, and
research information.

As used in this chapter, “consolidate” includes consolidation and merger and “reinsurance” includes only those obligations ceded or assumed by an assumption agreement. An “assumption agreement” is one that transfers all of the direct insurer’s obligations under policies of insurance to another insurer and relieves the transferring insurer of any obligations under the policies. A domestic insurance company organized on the stock, mutual, stipulated premium, or assessment plan may not consolidate with any other company, or reinsure its risks or any part thereof with any other company, or assume or reinsure the whole or any portion of the risks of any other company, except in the manner provided by this chapter.

When any company described in section 26.1-07-01 proposes to consolidate with any other company, or to enter into any contract of reinsurance, it must file its petition with the commissioner setting forth the terms and conditions of the proposed consolidation or reinsurance contract and asking for approval or modification as provided by this chapter. The company shall file as an exhibit to the petition the proposed consolidation or reinsurance contract.

An officer of a company petitioning for the right to consolidate or to reinsure and an officer or employee of the state may not receive any compensation or gratuity, either directly or indirectly, for aiding, promoting, or in any manner assisting in the consolidation or reinsurance.