An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Committee To Study Compliance with Maine's Freedom of Access Laws Concerning Attorney's Fees
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0466
Committee: Judiciary

Legislative Document 
No. 466 
H.P.341 
House of Representatives, February 1, 2005 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Committee To 
Study Compliance with Maine's Freedom of Access Laws 
Concerning Attorney's Fees 
Reported by Representative KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor for the Committee to Study 
Compliance with Maine's Freedom of Access Laws pursuant to Public Law 2003, chapter 709, 
section 8. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed on recycled paper 
171~ 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. I. I MRSA §411 is enacted to read: 
§411. Attorney's fees and litigation ezpeases 
In an action to enforce this subchapter, the court may award 
reasonable attorney's fees 
and litigation expenses 
reasonably 
incurred to the wholly prevailing party if the court determines 
that the failure to comply with the law was committed in bad 
faith or that the request for access or the enforcement action 
was frivolous, vexatious or without merit. 
This section applies to actions for enforcement of this 
subchapter filed on or after September 1, 2007. 
SUMMARY 
This bill is the 
recommendation of the majority of the 
Committee to Study Compliance with Maine's Freedom of Access Laws. 
This bill applies to actions filed in court to enforce 
access to public proceedings and records under the Maine freedom 
of 
access 
laws. 
It gives 
the 
court 
discretion 
to 
award 
attorney's fees 
and litigation expenses to either party when 
certain 
circumstances 
exist. 
First, 
the 
party 
must 
wholly 
prevail, meaning a 
negotiated settlement of providing partial 
access or copies of some of the records requested will not make 
either the plaintiff or the defendant eligible for the award of 
attorney's fees and litigation expenses. 
Second, the failure to 
comply with the law and the denial of access must have been 
committed in bad faith. 
Being unsure whether a requested record 
is a public record is not sufficient to rise to the level of bad 
faith nor would 
a 
legitimate, but mistaken, 
belief that the 
record requested is confidential. 
Similarly, for a defendant to 
be awarded attorney's fees and litigation expenses, the request 
for access to proceedings or records, or bringing an action in 
court in order to 
compel 
access, 
must 
have 
been frivolous, 
vexatious or without merit. 
A legitimate belief in the right to 
attend a meeting or inspect or copy a record would not give rise 
to 
an 
award. 
Using 
the 
freedom 
of 
access 
laws 
and 
the 
enforcement procedures to harass and inconvenience an agency or 
public official could give rise to such an award. 
Attorney's 
fees and litigation expenses must be reasonable. 
This bill applies to 
September 1, 2007. 
This is 
of the Committee to Study 
actions filed in court on or after 
consistent with the recommendations 
Compliance with Maine's Freedom of 
Page l-LROll1(l) 
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Access Laws in assessing the volume and severity of violations of 
Maine's 
freedom of access 
laws 
and the need to provide the 
opportunity for attorney's fees to encourage compliance .