Subnational jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06
North Dakota's principal data-center-specific law is a sales and use tax exemption for enterprise information technology equipment and computer software purchased for use in a certified qualified data center, originally enacted in 2015 (House Bill No. 1089) and since amended and renumbered; it is currently codified at N.D. Cent.
Code § 57-39.2-04.17, not section 57-39.2-04.15 (that section is a separate exemption for materials used to construct a fertilizer or chemical processing facility) and not the 04.13 citation an earlier legislative review used. Beyond the tax exemption, data-center siting and construction proceed through the state's general permitting spine: municipal or county zoning enabling statutes, and the statewide building code administered by a city, township, or county.
North Dakota has no state-level environmental review statute equivalent to a NEPA analog; utility interconnection and air permitting for data-center facilities are not described here. The legislative assembly maintains an interim Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee for the 2025-26 interim, evidencing active legislative attention to data-center policy beyond the tax exemption described here.
4 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Who decides whether a data center may occupy a site, and through what approval?
Applies to both
Authorizes the board of county commissioners, with a county zoning commission, to regulate and restrict the location and use of buildings and structures within the county, and to enforce those regulations; a general violation is classed as a public nuisance and a class B misdemeanor.
Source: Full text of law
Applies to both
Authorizes a city to adopt and amend zoning regulations, districts, and boundaries, including extraterritorial zoning of nearby unincorporated territory, subject to public hearing and notice; a data-center rezoning or use approval sited within a North Dakota city proceeds under this chapter.
Source: Full text of law
What codes and permits govern the build itself?
Applies to both
Establishes the state building code and authorizes a city, township, or county to administer and enforce it within its jurisdictional area, with joint administration or private enforcement available by agreement; a data center's building permit issues under this chapter through whichever local government administers the code where the facility is sited.
Source: Full text of law
What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?
N.D. Cent. Code § 57-39.2-04.17
Applies to private
Gross receipts from sales of enterprise information technology equipment and computer software purchased for use by a qualifying business in a certified qualified data center are exempt from North Dakota sales and use tax, including purchases of upgraded or replacement equipment or software; a future owner of a proposed data center must apply to the tax commissioner for certification, and a qualifying business must obtain a certificate before purchase or pay the tax and apply for a refund.
A qualified data center is a newly constructed or substantially refurbished facility of at least fifteen thousand square feet, at least half of which is used for data processing, on which construction or substantial refurbishment is completed after December 31, 2020, with sophisticated fire suppression and enhanced security features, certified by the tax commissioner; a qualified data center owner must report annually to the tax commissioner the exemption claimed, jobs created or retained, and local incentives received.
The exemption was originally enacted in 2015 with the passage of House Bill No. 1089. It was first codified at section 57-39.2-04.13, then covering a facility of at least sixteen thousand square feet newly constructed or substantially refurbished after December 31, 2014. That version of the exemption was limited to the first four facilities the tax commissioner approved and was set to expire January 1, 2021.
The section has since been amended and renumbered to its current citation, and the codified text now carries a 'Retroactive application' annotation whose underlying session-law citation is not reproduced in the chapter text, so no specific commencement day is asserted for the current text.
Source: Full text of law
Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.