An Act To Update and Clarify Laws Relating to Maine's Community Colleges
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1178
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: NORTON, BOWMAN
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6552, 20-A MRSA §12706, 20-A MRSA §12712, 27 MRSA §121

Legislative Document 
No. 1178 
H.P.859 
House of Representatives, March 7, 2007 
An Act To Update and Clarify Laws Relating to Maine's 
Community Colleges 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative NORTON of Bangor. 
Cosponsored by Senator BOWMAN of York. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6552, sub-§l, as amended by PL 1989, c. 414, §13, is 
further amended to read: 
1. Prohibition. A person may not possess a firearm on public school property or 
discharge a firearm within 500 feet of school property. For purposes of this subsection, 
public school property includes property of a community college that adopts a policy 
imposing such a prohibition. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §12706, sub-§l1, as amended by PL 1991, c. 376, §36, is 
further amended to read: 
• 
11. Personnel policies. To develop and adopt personnel policies and procedures for 
II 
the system. The board of trustees, subject to applicable collective bargaining agreements, 
shall determine the qualifications, duties and compensation of its employees and shall 
allocate and transfer personnel within the system as necessary to fulfill the purposes of 
this chapter. The board of trustees shall appoint the president of the system and the 
presidents of the colleges. The provisions of the Civil Service Law, as defined by Title 5, 
section 7039, do not apply to the system, except that the same protections for personnel 
records provided in Title 5, section 7070 to state employees apply to the personnel 
records of system employees; 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRS A §12706, sub-§13, as amended by PL 1995, c. 96, §I, is 
further amended to read: 
13. Property management. To acquire by purchase, gift, lease or rent any property, 
lands, buildings, structures, facilities or equipment necessary to fulfill the purposes of this 
chapter. The board of trustees shall manage, rent, lease, sell and dispose of property, 
including lands, buildings, structures, equipment and facilities, and license dormitory 
rooms for occupancy by students. The purchase and installation of faucets, shower heads, 
toilets and urinals is subject to Title 5, section 1762-A. If the board of trustees proposes 
to sell or permanently transfer any interest in real estate, the transaction must be approved 
by the Legislature before the interest is transferred. Any revenues derived from these 
uses are to be credited to a separate fund to be used for the purposes of this chapter. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board of trustees may grant or otherwise 
transfer utility easements without legislative approval; 
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §12712, sub-§7, ,A, as amended by PL 1991, c. 376, §41, 
is further amended to read: 
A. 
Each president may make rules for the control, movement and parking of 
vehicles within the limits of the property owned by or under the control of the 
college. These rules may include special provisions for employees of the system and 
college students. A president's rule has the same force and effect as a municipal 
ordinance. District courts may impose governing penalties and fines, Aot to eJieeed 
$-W and a college may impose appropriate discipline, for each violation of these 
rules. 
Sec. 5. 27 MRSA §121, as amended by PL 1997, c. 146, § 1 and as affected by §2, 
is further amended to read: 
§ 121. Confidentiality of library records 
Records maintained by any public municipal library, the Maine State Library, the 
Law and Legislative Reference Library and libraries of the University of Maine System~ 
Maine Community College System and the Maine Maritime Academy that contain 
information relating to the identity of a library patron relative to the patron's use of books 
or other materials at the library are confidential. Those records may only be released with 
the express written permission ofthe patron involved or as the result of a court order. 
SUMMARY 
This bilI updates and clarifies several laws governing Maine's community colleges. It 
requires the Board of Trustees of the Maine Community College System to license 
dormitory rooms for occupancy by students. It updates the language regarding traffic 
violations on campus. It clarifies that the Maine Community College System personnel 
records are entitled to the same protections as the personnel records of state employees. 
It enables the community colleges to enhance public safety by specifying the colleges' 
ability to control firearm possession on their campuses. 
Finally, it gives community 
college library patrons the same rights regarding confidentiality as patrons of the 
University of Maine System, Maine Maritime Academy and municipal libraries.