1. A person is guilty of escape if, without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts to remove himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period. A person who is subject to official detention under this section is guilty of escape, if while outside the state of North Dakota and without lawful authority, the person removes or attempts to remove himself from official detention, or fails to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specified purpose or limited period, when at the time the person is in the legal custody of a warden of the penitentiary, department of corrections and rehabilitation, or other competent authority by virtue of a lawful commitment to official detention. 2. Escape is a class B felony if the actor uses a firearm, destructive device, or other dangerous weapon in effecting or attempting to effect the actor's removal from official detention. Escape is a class C felony if: a. The actor uses any other force or threat of force against another in effecting or attempting to effect the actor's removal from official detention; or b. The person escaping was in official detention by virtue of the person's arrest for, or on charge of, a felony, or pursuant to the person's conviction of any offense. Otherwise escape is a class A misdemeanor. 3. In this section: a. "Conviction of an offense" does not include an adjudication of juvenile delinquency. b. "Official detention" means arrest, custody following surrender in lieu of arrest, detention in any facility for custody of persons under charge or conviction of an offense or alleged or found to be delinquent, detention under a law authorizing civil commitment in lieu of criminal proceedings or authorizing such detention while criminal proceedings are held in abeyance, detention for extradition, home detention as authorized by chapter 12 -67, or custody for purposes incident to the foregoing, including transportation, medical diagnosis or treatment, court appearances, work, and recreation, or being absent without permission from any release granted while under custody of a sentence such as work or education release, community confinement, or other temporary leaves from a correctional or placement facility. "Official detention" does not include supervision on probation or parole or constraint incidental to release. 4. Irregularity in bringing about or maintaining detention, or lack of jurisdiction of the committing or detaining authority, shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section if the escape is from the penitentiary or other facility used for official detention or from detention pursuant to commitment by an official proceeding. In the case of other detentions, irregularity or lack of jurisdiction shall be an affirmative defense if: a. The escape involved no substantial risk of harm to the person or property of anyone other than the detainee; or b. The detaining authority did not act in good faith under color of law. 5. The jurisdiction of a violation of this section when the person is in the legal custody of a warden of the penitentiary, the department of corrections and rehabilitation, or other lawful authority is in the county where the violation occurred if the violation occurred within this state, and is in Burleigh County or in the county in which the order committing the person to official detention was entered if the violation occurred outside this state.
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