An Act To Clarify the Law for Failing To Comply with the Requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1752
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: PLOWMAN, COURTNEY, CEBRA, RICHARDSON
Amends: 15 MRSA §2124, 34-A MRSA §11227

Legislative Document 
No. 1752 
S.P.619 
March 27,2007 
An Act To Clarify the Law for Failing To Comply with the 
Requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act 
of 1999 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Senator PLOWMAN of Penobscot. 
JOY 1. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Senator: COURTNEY of York, Representatives: CEBRA of Naples, 
RICHARDSON of Carmel. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §2124, sub-§I-A, as corrected by RR 1995, c. 2, §32 and 
amended by PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §7, is further amended to read: 
I-A. Present or future restraint by commitment to the Commissioner of Health 
and Human Services. Present restraint or impediment as a direct result of commitment 
to the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 
imposed as a result of being found not criminally responsible by reason of HI:eHtal 
disease or defeet insanity, that is challenged, or future restraint or impediment as a result 
of such an order of commitment that is challenged when a sentence involving 
imprisonment is or will be served first. 
A claim for postconviction review is not allowed under this subsection relative to any 
court proceeding or administrative action that affects release or discharge pursuant to 
section 104-A; 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §2124, sub-§3, ~C, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 701, §15, is 
amended to read: 
C. 
A pending trial or any of the restraints or impediments specified in subsection 1 
following a criminal judgment in this State, another state or in a Federal Court for a 
crime for which proof of the criminal judgment of this State that is challenged 
constitutes an element of the subsequent crime. This paragraph does not authorize, in 
the context of a Title 34-A, section 11227 violation, an action for post-conviction 
review under this chapter of the underlying sex offense or sexually violent offense 
that constitutes an element of the section 11227 violation. 
Sec. 3. 34-A MRSA §11227, sub-§6, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 
423, §23, is amended to read: 
6. Affirmative defense. It is an affimiative defense that the failure to comply with a 
duty imposed under this chapter or a rule adopted pursuant to this chapter resulted from 
just cause, except that a person to whom section 11222, subsection 2-A, 2-B or 2-C 
applies may not raise a defense under just cause that the person was not aware of the 
registration requirement. For purposes of this subsection, "just cause" means a physical or 
mental incapacity that makes a person unable to comply with a duty imposed under this 
chapter or a rule adopted pursuant to this chapter. 
SUMMARY 
This bill clarifies that a person may not seek post-conviction review of a violation of 
the sex offender registration requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act of 1999 for post-conviction review of the underlying sex offense or 
sexually violent offense that constitutes an element of the registration violation. The bill 
also clarifies that for purposes of a violation of a duty or rule under the Sex Offender 
Registration and Notification Act of 1999, "just cause" raised in the context of an 
affirmative defense means a physical or mental incapacity that makes a person unable to 
comply with a duty imposed under that Act or a rule adopted pursuant to that Act. 
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