An Act To Clarify Public Safety Laws Regarding the Disclosure of Information and the Storage of Evidence, To Reauthorize the United States Secret Service To Enforce Certain State Laws and To Allow Designees To Serve on the Maine Communications System Policy Board
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1183
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: HANLEY, SYKES, TIBBETTS
Amends: 25 MRSA §1502-A, 25 MRSA §1531, 25 MRSA §3821

Legislative Document 
No.US3 
H.P.864 
House of Representati ves, March 7, 2007 
An Act To Clarify Public Safety Laws Regarding the Disclosure of 
Information and the Storage of Evidence, To Reauthorize the United 
States Secret Service To Enforce Certain State Laws and To Allow 
Designees To Serve on the Maine Communications System Policy 
Board 
Submitted by the Department of Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representati ve GERZOFSKY of Brunswick. 
--m~ 
1J1.7J?D£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: HANLEY of Gardiner, SYKES of Harrison, TIBBETTS of 
Columbia. 
Printed on recyclell paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 25 MRS A §J502-A, sub-§J, as amended by PL 2001, c. 602, §1, IS 
further amended to read: 
1. Definition. For purposes of this section, "federal officers" means the following 
persons who are authorized to carry firearms in the performance of their duties as federal 
law enforcement employees or officers: 
A. Special Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department 
of Justice; 
B. 
Immigration Inspectors, including Deportation Officers and Immigration 
Examiners v.'hen acting in the capacity of Immigration Inspectors of the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice; 
C. 
Border Patrol Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the 
Department of Justice; 
D. Officers of the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury; 
and 
E. 
Any of the officers listed in this subsection who are assigned to or are acting in 
concert with a task force, but only if that task force meets the following requirements: 
(1) The task force is a task force of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency 
authorized under this Title; or 
(2) The task force is a joint federal-state task force operating primarily within the 
territorial boundaries of this State and: 
(a) An arrest is part of or related to an investigation of that federal-state task 
force; or 
(b) An arrest occurs in a prosecutorial district and either: 
(i) The district attorney of that district or the district attorney's written 
designee actively participates in and oversees the activities of the task 
force; or 
(ii) 
The arrest occurs anywhere within the State and the Attorney 
General or the Attorney General's written designee actively participates 
in and oversees the activities of the task forc~~ 
F. 
Special Agents of the United States Secret Service of the Department of 
Homeland Security. 
This paragraph is repealed July 1, 2009; and 
G. 
An officer of an agency of the Department of Homeland Security that has 
administrative and enforcement jurisdiction over immigration, customs or border 
security matters. 
This paragraph is repealed July 1, 2009. 
Federal officers are law enforcement officers for the purposes of Title 17-A, section 2, 
subsection 17. 
Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §1502-A, sub-§5, ~-1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 602, §3 and 
affected by §4, is further amended to read: 
B-1. The Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice and 
the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury federal 
agencies of the Department of Homeland Security shall develop policies governing 
their employees, including training policies. 
Sec. 3. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ~A, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is 
amended to read: 
A. 
The Commissioner of Public Safety, ex officio, or the commissioner's designee; 
Sec. 4. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ~, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is 
amended to read: 
B. The Chief of the State Police, ex officio, or the chiefs designee; 
Sec. 5. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ~C, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is 
amended to read: 
C. 
The Chief Information Officer within the Department of Administrative and 
Financial Services, ex officio, or the Chief Information Officer's designee; 
Sec. 6. 25 MRS A §2929, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 291, §3, is amended 
to read: 
6. 
Penalty for disseminating information. 
Disclosing Knowingly disclosing 
confidential information in violation of subsection 2 or knowingly disclosing audio 
recordings of emergency calls to the E-9-1-1 system in violation of subsection 4 is a 
Class E crime. 
Sec. 7. 25 MRSA §3821, first~, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 719, §4 and affected 
by § 11, is amended to read: 
If an alleged victim of gross sexual assault has a forensic examination and has not 
reported the alleged offense to a law enforcement agency when the examination is 
complete, the licensed hospital or licensed health care practitioner that completed the 
forensic examination shall notify the nearest law enforcement agency. 
That law 
enforcement agency shall transport the completed kit, identified only by a tracking 
number assigned by the hospital or health care practitioner, to its evidence storage 
facility. The law enforcement agency shall store the kit for at least 90 days from the time 
of receipt. If during that 90-day period the alleged victim reports the offense to a law 
enforcement agency, the agency storing the kit shall transport the kit to the Maine State 
Police Grime Laboratory continue to store the kit at its evidence storage facility. 
SUMMARY 
This bill: 
1. Establishes the state of mind that must accompany the disclosure of confidential 
information regarding E-9-1-1 calls or recordings in order for such disclosure to be a 
crime; 
2. Makes the law regarding the place at which forensic examination kits are to be 
stored reflective of and consistent with actual storage practices; 
3. 
Updates references to federal agencies to reflect their placement into the 
Department of Homeland Security; 
4. Renews until July 1, 2009 the authority previously granted to the United States 
Secret Service of the Department of Homeland Security to enforce laws of the State. The 
authority previously granted to that agency was repealed on J ul y 1, 2004; and 
5. Authorizes a designee of the Commissioner of Public Safety, a designee of the 
Chief of the State Police and a designee of the Chief Information Officer to serve in place 
of the commissioner, chief or Chief Information Officer, respectively, on the Maine 
Communications System Policy Board.