North Dakota

Overview

The North Dakota Public Employees’ Retirement System is one of two state retirement system in North Dakota. The other state retirement system is the Teachers’ Fund for Retirement (TFFR). NDPERS participants include state employees and employees of political subdivisions that have elected to participate.

The North Dakota State Investment Board is responsible for investing assets of the PERS and the TFFR, as well as assets of some local pension funds and state and local trust and endowment funds.

Plan Design

Most North Dakota public employees participate in a defined benefit plan except those who have elected to participate in an optional defined contribution plan, available since 2000; this defined contribution plan is mandatory, in lieu of the defined benefit plan, for new PERS hires since January 1, 2025 who are not peace officers, judges, or members of the Highway Patrol.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 95 percent of employees of state and local government in North Dakota participate in Social Security.

Access plan design detail

Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

The North Dakota Century Code Title 54, Chapter 52 establishes the ND PERS.

The Teachers Fund for Retirement is established by Century Code Title 15, Chapter 39.

Century Code Title 21, Chapter 10 establishes the State Investment Board.

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

North Dakota Century Code Title 21, Chapter 10, Section 7
The state investment board shall apply the prudent investor rule in investing for funds under its supervision. The "prudent investor rule" means that in making investments the fiduciaries shall exercise the judgment and care, under the circumstances then prevailing, that an institutional investor of ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence exercises in the management of large investments entrusted to it, not in regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent disposition of funds, considering probable safety of capital as well as probable income. The retirement funds belonging to the teachers' fund for retirement and the public employees retirement system must be invested exclusively for the benefit of their members and in accordance with the respective funds' investment goals and objectives.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

No explicit constitutional protection and not much recent caselaw. Courts will likely protect against the impairment of contract rights. Payne v. Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Ins. & Retirement Fund, 35 N.W.2d 553 (N.D. 1948) (recognizing that public pension plan is not a gratuity and rather gives rise to binding contractual rights and obligations upon satisfaction of all conditions); Quam v. City of Fargo, 43 N.W.2d 292 (N.D. 1950) (same); Klug v. City of Minot, 795 N.W.2d 906 (N.D. 2011) (home rule city had the authority to combine police pension with city employee pension plan; defined benefit plan consists of a general pool of assets of which a plan member is entitled to a fixed periodic payment upon retirement not a claim to any particular assets). (ND CONST., Article X, §12) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits

More Data

Population (2024) 796,568

North Dakota public pension statistics, per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2024
Assets	$8.4 billion
Active Members	39,433
Annuitants	27,362
Benefits Paid	$593.9 million
Employee Contributions	$212.1 million
Employer Contributions	$398.0 million
Systems	Two state systems accounting for 93 percent of public pension assets and 96 percent of public pension plan participants in the state. There are eight systems in the state sponsored by local governments.

Other Resources

History of the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System

Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.

What's New at NASRA: Public Pension Investment Return Assumption Brief Updated

NASRA’s latest update to standing issue briefs, Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptions underscores the critical role the investment return assumption plays in the financial health of public pension plans. Of all actuarial assumptions, it has the greatest impact on plan funding levels and cost. This brief traces how a decade of low interest rates and inflation, beginning in 2009, prompted many plans to reduce their long-term expected returns in line with more modest capital market projections. However, since inflation began rising in early 2021, the trend toward lowering return assumptions has largely paused. While reducing a plan’s assumed return can increase both costs and unfunded liabilities, setting this assumption is a careful, thorough process. It draws on expert input from actuaries and investment professionals and is guided by actuarial standards of practice.

Retirement System Account Interest Policies	Economic Actuarial Assumptions	Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics
Information about interest rates applied to account balances of inactive plan participants	Assumed rates of investment return and inflation	Composition and characteristics of public retirement and investment oversight boards
Mortality Assumptions	Plan Design Features	Post-retirement Employment Policies
Public retirement system actuarial assumptions for mortality	Numerous elements of retirement plan design	Policies governing return-to-work for retirement system annuitants