Associated Press Writer

By DALE WETZELBy DALE WETZEL

North Dakota, which considers it a sex crime for unmarried men and women to live together, would relabel the offense as fraud under a proposal to overhaul the state's anti-cohabitation law.

The state Senate voted 35-10 on Friday to approve the changes, which specify that it is a misdemeanor crime for a cohabiting man and woman to try to pass themselves off as a married couple. It is punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The bill now goes to the North Dakota House, which has resisted previous attempts to repeal the anti-cohabitation law outright.

"This is, in fact, the 21st century, and I believe it's time to put to rest this 19th-century legislation," said Sen. Tracy Potter, a Bismarck Democrat.

North Dakota is one of seven states with anti-cohabitation laws. Since statehood, North Dakota has barred unmarried couples from "openly and notoriously" living together as if they were married.

Prosecutors say no one has been prosecuted for cohabitation for years, but North Dakota's criminal laws list it among other sex crimes, including rape and child sexual abuse.

The proposed changes would relabel the offense as "false representation of marital status," and apply it only to couples who are living together while claiming to be married, when they are not.

It would also shift the crime to another chapter of the state's criminal code that defines an assortment of unrelated offenses, including disorderly conduct, selling tobacco to minors, fraudulent uses of store receipts and loan sharking.

Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, who has opposed previous attempts to repeal the anti-cohabitation law, said he believed the present law already is meant to prevent fraud.

"If people are more comfortable in this wording, I have no problem, but I don't think it changes anything," Mathern said.

Potter said North Dakota Supreme Court rulings as recently as 2001 have interpreted the present law to mean that it bans unmarried, opposite-sex couples from living together.

Potter introduced the bill to repeal the anti-cohabitation law, but said Friday he agreed with what he called "elegant" changes to his legislation.

The bill is SB2138.