Does North Dakota Require an Alcohol Server Card?

Not statewide — Required by city ordinance in several cities; state gives licensees a first-violation training mitigation. What alcohol servers actually need, county by county — verified from official sources.

Legal basis

N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 5-02-10.1 -- Violations; alcohol server training accepted as a mitigating factor for a first violation against a retail licensee (training addressing intoxication, drunk driving, and underage drinking, as approved by the licensing authority; enacted by 2015 House Bill 1416)
N.D. Cent. Code ch. 5-02 -- Municipal and county retail alcoholic beverage licensing (local governing body is the licensing authority)
Grand Forks, N.D., City Code Sec. 21-0235 -- Mandatory alcohol server training (certificate valid 3 years; issued by Grand Forks Police Department; Ord. No. 4230, 5-5-08)
Fargo, N.D., Municipal Code -- mandatory server training, as amended by Ordinance No. 5378 (adopted Dec. 27, 2022): training required prior to employment; scope covers all individuals in the stream of service of alcoholic beverages including security; card valid 3 years (the pre-2022 Art. 25-15/Sec. 25-1511 numbering no longer resolves in the current code following reorganization)
Williston, N.D., City Code Sec. 3-150 -- 'Administrative fees and suspension or revocation of license to sell alcoholic beverages' [Ord. No. 854, 3-26-2002; Ord. No. 895, 6-26-2007; Ord. No. 1101, 4-23-2019]: subsection (b) requires all alcohol servers trained within 90 days of employment with cards kept on file (no card expiration term); subsection (c) sets the administrative fees ($750 first offense; $2,500 second/third within 60 months). Later Ch. 3 amendments (Ord. No. 1171, 9-9-2025; Ord. No. 1173, 10-14-2025) left the Sec. 3-150(b) training mandate unchanged
West Fargo, N.D., City Code Sec. 10-0104(7) -- server training required, approved by the West Fargo Police Department (card renewed every 3 years)
Dickinson, N.D., City Code Sec. 4.08.240 -- server training approved by the Police Chief/City Administrator, minimum 72%, card renewed every 3 years (Ord. No. 1296, eff. 4-18-05)

North Dakota does not require an individual statewide alcohol server card. Where you work matters: at least one county or city licensing authority imposes its own requirement — the verified local rules are below.

Required by city ordinance in several cities; state gives licensees a first-violation training mitigation.

What it’s called

North Dakota imposes no statewide alcohol server license or card, but at least six cities (Grand Forks among them) mandate individual server training by ordinance. “Bartender license,” “servers license” and “alcohol server card” are common informal names for that local training card; North Dakota issues no statewide license by those names. A liquor license is the establishment’s credential.

What North Dakota requires instead

No one is required by North Dakota state law to hold an alcohol server/seller card – the state has no statewide individual mandate. What IS required statewide is that the establishment hold a retail alcoholic beverage license from the Attorney General, and the licensee is responsible for lawful service; under N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 5-02-10.1, a licensee that provided its employees approved alcohol server training receives a mitigating factor (a lesser penalty) on a first violation. The individual requirement is set city by city: where a municipal ordinance mandates training, every person who sells, serves, delivers, or manages the sale or service of alcohol – and anyone who checks identification for purchase or admittance – must obtain the local certificate of training within the deadline the ordinance sets – in Fargo, training must be completed BEFORE employment begins (Ordinance No. 5378, adopted December 27, 2022, abolished Fargo’s former 90-day grace period and extended the mandate to everyone in the stream of service of alcoholic beverages, including security staff and door attendants); elsewhere a post-hire grace period applies (Grand Forks 60 days; Williston, Dickinson, and West Fargo 90 days; Watford City 6 months) – and must renew it every 3 years where the ordinance sets a term.

Who does NOT need this — exemptions

North Dakota state law exempts everyone by default: no statute requires any individual to hold a server card, so outside the cities with training ordinances (Grand Forks, Fargo, West Fargo, Williston, Dickinson, Watford City), no server card is needed at all. That statewide negative is confirmed from the full text of N.D. Cent. Code ch. 5-02 – whose only training reference is the Sec. 5-02-10.1 licensee mitigation – and from the Attorney General’s retail-license page, which states no server-training requirement. Within the mandating cities, no occupational exemptions were found in the ordinance texts: Grand Forks Sec. 21-0235 sweeps in everyone who sells, serves, delivers, or manages the sale or service of alcohol and anyone who checks identification; Williston Sec. 3-150(b) covers ‘all servers of alcohol’; Fargo’s updated ordinance covers all individuals in the stream of service of alcoholic beverages including security and door staff; Watford City Sec. 6-535(4) covers licensees together with their managers and employees. Tiers searched: the statute (N.D. Cent. Code ch. 5-02, full chapter PDF), the Attorney General’s licensing page, the ND HHS ordinance compilation, and the current Fargo (Fargo Cass Public Health page) and Williston (eCode360 Sec. 3-150) texts. Adjacent but establishment-side, not a server-card exemption: N.D.C.C. Sec. 5-02-01(3) exempts certain nonprofit fundraising sales from the retail-license requirement.

Local requirements

At least six North Dakota cities mandate individual server training by ordinance (five set a 3-year card term; Williston’s Sec. 3-150 fixes no card expiration or renewal period): Grand Forks – Mandatory Alcohol Server Training, City Code Sec. 21-0235, certificate issued by the Grand Forks Police Department (or an approved trainer) within 60 days of hire, minimum test score 75%, valid 3 years. Fargo – mandatory server training, updated by Ordinance No. 5378 (adopted at the December 27, 2022 City Commission meeting): training must be completed PRIOR to employment (the former 90-day grace period was abolished), the mandate covers all individuals involved in the stream of service of alcoholic beverages – managers, servers, bartenders, security, and door attendants – and the course is available online only through the North Dakota Safety Council’s Responsible Beverage Server course (currently $20), coordinated by Fargo Cass Public Health; cards are valid 3 years from completion. Williston – Sec. 3-150(b), all servers trained within 90 days of employment, cards kept on file by the licensee along with date of hire; the ordinance sets no card expiration or renewal term. West Fargo – Sec. 10-0104, server training approved by the West Fargo Police Department, 90-day grace period, renewed every 3 years. Dickinson – Sec. 4.08.240, training approved by the Police Chief/City Administrator, minimum score 72%, 90-day grace period, renewed every 3 years. Watford City – Sec. 6-535, training approved by the Police Chief/City Administrator, 6-month grace period, card valid 3 years. Requirements vary by jurisdiction; other cities may impose their own.

Where to check

There is no statewide server-card issuer. North Dakota licenses the ESTABLISHMENT, not the individual: the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office issues the retail alcoholic beverage license (the bar/store’s own license), and the Office of State Tax Commissioner licenses wholesalers, manufacturers, and direct shippers and collects alcohol tax – neither issues an individual server/seller card. Where a city ordinance requires server training, the certificate is issued or approved by the municipal police department (e.g., the Grand Forks, Williston, and West Fargo police departments) or by the Police Chief/City Administrator (Dickinson, Watford City); in Fargo, since Ordinance No. 5378 (December 2022), the training is available online only through the North Dakota Safety Council’s Responsible Beverage Server course and the certificate comes from that course, coordinated by Fargo Cass Public Health (which formerly facilitated the in-person Fargo Police Department classes). At the state level, the Department of Health and Human Services (Behavioral Health Division) runs a voluntary Responsible Beverage Service Training (RBST) prevention program, and the North Dakota Safety Council offers a Responsible Beverage Server course – trainings that satisfy the licensee-mitigation safe harbor but are not a state-mandated card.

Frequently asked questions

Does North Dakota require an alcohol server card?

Not statewide — but an alcohol server card is required in certain North Dakota counties or cities. No one is required by North Dakota state law to hold an alcohol server/seller card – the state has no statewide individual mandate. What IS required statewide is that the establishment hold a retail alcoholic beverage license from the Attorney General, and the licensee is responsible for lawful service; under N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 5-02-10.1, a licensee that provided its employees approved alcohol server training receives a mitigating factor (a lesser penalty) on a first violation.

How long is an alcohol server card valid in North Dakota?

No statewide server card. Where a North Dakota city mandates one, the certificate of training is valid 3 years and must be renewed before it expires – Grand Forks, Dickinson, Fargo, Watford City, and West Fargo all set a three-year term.

How much does an alcohol server card cost in North Dakota?

North Dakota sets no statewide server-card fee because there is no state card. Where a city requires training, the course price is set by the approved provider, not fixed by statute – in Fargo the required North Dakota Safety Council online course currently costs $20 (per Fargo Cass Public Health); the state does not charge for the credential. Ordinance penalties mostly fall on the license holder: Williston assesses a mandatory $750 administrative fee on the license holder for a first sale-to-minor violation and a mandatory $2,500 fee for a second or third offense within 60 months of the first (City Code Sec. 3-150(c), as amended by Ord. No. 1101, 4-23-2019); Dickinson $500; Fargo $500.

Where do you get an alcohol server card in North Dakota?

There is no state approval list for a server card because the state does not issue one. In cities that mandate training, the municipal police department (or, in Dickinson and Watford City, the Police Chief and City Administrator) must approve every training program and instructor, and the card is obtained by completing an approved course and, in some cities, passing a test – Grand Forks requires a score of at least 75% on a Grand Forks Police Department test and issues the certificate through the department; Dickinson requires at least 72%. In Fargo, under the 2022 ordinance update, the course is delivered online only through the North Dakota Safety Council’s Responsible Beverage Server course (in-person classes, including private classes, are no longer offered). The certificate stays with the individual across employers. For the statewide safe harbor, training must address intoxication, drunk driving, and underage drinking and be “approved by the licensing authority” (the local governing body) under N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 5-02-10.1; the ND HHS RBST program and the ND Safety Council’s Responsible Beverage Server course are commonly used to meet it.

Which North Dakota counties or cities require an alcohol server card?

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in North Dakota.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: July 22, 2026.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.