Some states have laws (statutes) that require a person to accurately provide their identification (ID) (name, residence address, date of birth) to the police if the police have reasonable suspicion to believe (1) a crime has been committed, is being committed, or is about to be committed and (2) the person asked to provide identification is involved as a participant or as a witness. If there is no reasonable suspicion, a person does not have to provide identification—but courts often find reasonable suspicion as a matter of course.
These statutes are sometimes called stop-and-identify laws or stop and ID laws, and the violation of the statute may be a criminal offense or crime known as “failure to ID.” Stop and ID laws vary from state to state in the states that have such laws. For example, in some states failure to ID cannot be the basis for an arrest (there must be an underlying criminal offense) and in some states the obligation to provide identification only applies to a person who has been arrested.
And in some states it is a criminal offense for a person to provide a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth if the person has been detained by police on the basis of reasonable suspicion or is believed to be a witness to a criminal offense.
The United States Supreme Court has held that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution may allow suspects to refuse to give their name if they have a reasonable belief their name could be incriminating. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983).
In North Dakota, the law does not specifically require individuals to provide their identification to police upon request under all circumstances. However, under North Dakota Century Code 12.1-08-02, it is a criminal offense to provide false information or false identification to law enforcement officers. This applies when an individual is lawfully detained or under arrest and is asked to provide information. While North Dakota does not have a 'stop and identify' statute that compels individuals to provide their ID to law enforcement due to reasonable suspicion alone, individuals are still prohibited from providing false information. It's important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that under the Fifth Amendment, individuals may refuse to provide their name if doing so could be self-incriminating. Therefore, while North Dakota law does not compel individuals to identify themselves without an underlying legal basis for the detention or arrest, providing false information to law enforcement is a criminal offense.