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Statutory ban

Non-compete enforceability in North Dakota

Statutory void since 1877 — every contract restraining lawful trade is void to that extent.

What this means for you

North Dakota is an absolute-ban state: post-employment non-competes are void by statute for most workers — regardless of salary, industry, or how "reasonable" the clause looks. The narrow exceptions are typically sale-of-business and partnership-dissolution covenants.

Controlling case-law

  • Werlinger v. Mutual Service Casualty Ins. Co., 496 N.W.2d 26 (N.D. 1993)

    Reaffirmed strict reading of §9-08-06.

Doctrine

Red-pencil statutory void. Courts treat over-broad non-competes as void in their entirety — no judicial reformation is permitted.

Gotchas

  • One of three pre-1900 statutory voids alongside CA and OK.
  • Sale-of-business goodwill and partnership-dissolution carve-outs only.

Note: Primary statute URL was unreachable during 2026-05-08 verification; citation is widely confirmed via secondary sources but verbatim text was not re-verified this session.

Federal context

The FTC's 2024 federal non-compete ban was vacated nationwide in Ryan v. FTC and removed from the Code of Federal Regulations in February 2026. There is no federal ban in force — so North Dakota's state law controls. Read the federal status.

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