An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1822
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 1 MRSA §412, 5 MRSA §200

Legislative Document 
No. 1822 
H.P.1270 
House of Representatives, April 4, 2007 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know 
Advisory Committee 
Reported by Representative SIMPSON of Auburn for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 411, subsection 6, paragraph 
G. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed on recycled ra~r 
/Jf~1n.11/~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §412 is enacted to read: 
§412. Public records and proceedings training for certain elected officials 
1. Training required. Beginning January 1, 2008, an elected official subject to this 
section shall complete a course of training on the requirements of this chapter relating to 
public records and proceedings. The official shall complete the training not later than the 
90th day after the date the elected official takes the oath of office to assume the person's 
duties as an elected official. For elected officials subject to this section serving in office 
on January 1, 2008, the training required by this section must be completed by April 1, 
2008. 
2. 
Minimum requirements. 
The training course under subsection 1 must be 
developed by the Public Access Ombudsman, established pursuant to Title 5, section 
200-1, in conjunction with the advisory committee. The training must be provided to 
elected officials through a central publicly accessible website at no cost. The training 
must be designed to be completed by an official in less than 2 hours. At a minimum, the 
training must include instruction in: 
A. The general legal requirements of this chapter regarding public records and public 
proceedings; 
B. Procedures and requirements regarding complying with a request for a public 
record under this chapter; and 
C. Penalties and other consequences for failure to comply with this chapter. 
3. Certification of completion. Upon completion of the training course under 
subsection 1, the elected official shall send an electronic notification to the Public Access 
Ombudsman, established pursuant to Title 5, section 200-1, attesting to the fact that the 
training has been completed. The Public Access Ombudsman shall maintain a record of 
those elected officials who have completed the training required by this section and make 
that record available to the public in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. 
4. Application. This section applies to: 
A. The Governor; 
B. The Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer of State and State Auditor; 
C. Members of the Legislature; and 
D. An elected official of a county, municipality, school district or school board or 
any regional or other political subdivision who, as part of the duties of the office, 
exercises executive or legislative powers. 
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §200-1 is enacted to read: 
Page I - 123LR2538(Ol)-1 
§200-I. Public Access Division; Public Access Ombudsman 
1. Public Access Division; Public Access Ombudsman. There is created. within 
the Department of the Attorney General, the Public Access Division to assist in 
compliance with the State's freedom of access laws. Title 1. chapter 13. The Attorney 
General shall appoint the Public Access Ombudsman. referred to in this section as "the 
ombudsman." to administer the division. 
2. Duties. The ombudsman shall: 
A. Prepare and make available interpretive and educational materials and programs 
concerning the State's freedom of access laws in cooperation with the Right To Know 
Advisory Committee. established under Title 1. section 411. The ombudsman. in 
conjunction with the Right To Know Advisory Committee. shall develop the training 
required by Title 1, section 412; 
B. 
Respond to informal inquiries made by the public and public agencies and 
officials concerning the State's freedom of access laws; 
C. 
Respond to and work to resolve complaints made by the public and public 
agencies and officials concerning the State's freedom of access laws: 
D. 
Furnish. upon request. advisory opinions regarding the interpretation of and 
compliance with the State's freedom of access laws to any person or public agency or 
official in an expeditious manner. 
The ombudsman may not issue an advisory 
opinion concerning a specific matter with respect to which a lawsuit has been filed 
under Title 1, chapter 13. 
Advisory opinions must be publicly available after 
distribution to the requestor or requestors and the parties involved: and 
E. 
Make recommendations concerning ways to improve public access to public 
records and proceedings. 
3. Assistance. The ombudsman may request from any public agency or official such 
assistance. services and information as will enable the ombudsman to effectively carry 
out the responsibilities of this section. 
4. Confidentiality. The ombudsman may access records that a public agency or 
official believes are confidential in order to make a determination whether the records 
may be released to the public. Records that would be confidential if they were in the 
possession or custody of a public agency or official are confidential if those records are in 
the possession of the ombudsman. The ombudsman shall maintain the confidentiality of 
confidential records and information provided to the ombudsman. 
5. Report. Beginning in 2008. the ombudsman shall submit a report not later than 
March 15th of each year to the Legislature and the Right To Know Advisory Committee. 
established under Title 1, section 411. concerning the activities of the ombudsman for the 
previous year. The report must include the following information: 
A. The total number of inquiries and complaints received; 
B. The number of inquiries and complaints received respectively from the public. the 
media and public agencies or officials: 
I 
C. The number of complaints received concerning respectively public records and 
public meetings: 
D. The number of complaints received concerning respectively: 
( I) State agencies: 
(2) County agencies: 
(3) Regional agencies: 
(4) Municipal agencies: 
(5) School administrative units: and 
(6) Other public entities: 
E. The number of inquiries and complaints that were resolved; 
F. The total number of written advisory opinions issued and pending: and 
G. Recommendations concerning ways to improve public access to public records 
and proceedings. 
SUMMARY 
This bill consists of the legislative recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory 
Committee. 
This bill requires certain elected officials to complete a training course on the State's 
freedom of access laws within 90 days of taking elected office beginning January 1, 2008. 
The bill requires that the Public Access Ombudsman, in conjunction with the Right To 
Know Advisory Committee, develop a training course of less than 2 hours using the 
State's publicly accessible website to be available at no cost to the elected official. The 
bill also requires that elected officials send electronic notification to the ombudsman upon 
completion of the training and further requires the ombudsman to make a record of those 
elected officials who have completed the training available to the public. 
This bill establishes the Public Access Division and the Public Access Ombudsman 
within the Department of the Attorney General. The ombudsman is required to provide 
information and educational materials and programs to the public, as well as to public 
agencies and officials, in cooperation with the Right To Know Advisory Committee. The 
ombudsman will respond to informal inquiries, resolve freedom of access complaints 
when possible and issue advisory opinions concerning the State's freedom of access laws. 
The ombudsman is not permitted to issue an advisory opinion on an issue that is the 
subject of a lawsuit filed under the freedom of access laws. The ombudsman must make 
the advisory opinions available to the public once they are distributed to the persons 
requesting the advisory opinion and the parties involved. The ombudsman is required to 
make recommendations concerning ways to improve public access to public records and 
public proceedings. 
The ombudsman may request the assistance of any public agency or official in 
carrying out these responsibilities. The ombudsman may access records that a public 
I 
agency or official believes are confidential in order to determine whether the records may 
be released to the public. 
Records that would be confidential if they were in the 
possession or custody of a public agency or official are confidential if those records are in 
the possession of the ombudsman. The ombudsman shall maintain the confidentiality of 
confidential records and information provided to the ombudsman. 
Beginning in March 2008, the ombudsman is required to report annually to the 
Legislature and the Right To Know Advisory Committee regarding the ombudsman's 
activities and the inquiries and complaints received. 
The report must also include 
recommendations concerning ways to improve public access to public records and 
proceedings.