An Act To Amend the Sex Offender Registration Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0568
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: SYKES, DIAMOND, HANLEY, HASKELL, PLUMMER, ROSEN
Amends: 17-A MRSA §261, 17-A MRSA §1152, 17-A MRSA §1204, 34-A MRSA §11203

Legislative Document 
No. 568 
H.P.406 
House of Representatives, February 17,2009 
An Act To Amend the Sex Offender Registration Laws 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative SYKES of HaITison. 
Cosponsored by Senator DIAMOND of Cumberland and 
77/d~ 111· 77!tJC~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: HANLEY of Gardiner, HASKELL of Portland, PLUMMER of Windham, 
ROSEN of BuckspOli. 
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Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, sex offender registration and notification laws are intended to protect the 
public from potentially dangerous persons by enhancing access to information concerning 
those persons; and 
Whereas, changes in this legislation to the existing Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act of 1999 ensure that the registration and notification laws better meet the 
intended public safety purpose; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §261, sub-§l, as enacted byPL 2007, c. 393, §1, is amended 
to read: 
1. A person is guilty of prohibited contact with a minor if that person: 
A. Has previously been Was convicted on or after June 30, 1992 of an offense under 
this chapter or chapter 12 against another person who had not in fact attained 14 years 
of age or has previously been was convicted on or after June 30, 1992 in another 
jurisdiction for conduct substantially similar to that contained in this chapter or 
chapter 12 against another person who had not in fact attained 14 years of age; and 
B. Has a duty to register under Title 34 A, chapter 15, sub chapters 1 and 2; and 
C. Intentionally or knowingly has initiates direct or indirect contact with another 
person who has not in fact attained 14 years of age. 
Violation ofthis subsection is a Class E crime. 
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §261, sub-§2, as amended byPL 2007, c. 518, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
2. A person is guilty of prohibited contact with a minor in a sex offender restricted 
zone if that person: 
A. Has previously been Was convicted on or after June 30, 1992 of an offense under 
this chapter or chapter 12 against another person who had not in fact attained 14 years 
of age or has previously been was convicted on or after June 30, 1992 in another 
jurisdiction for conduct substantially similar to that contained in this chapter or 
chapter 12 against another person who had not in fact attained 14 years of age; and 
B. Has a duty to register under Title 34 A, chapter 15, sub chapters 1 and 2; and 
C. Intentionally or knowingly has initiates direct or indirect contact in a sex offender 
restricted zone with another person who has not in fact attained 14 years of age. 
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Violation of this subsection is a Class D crime. 
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1152, sub-§2-C, as amended by PL 2003, c. 711, Pt. B, 
§ 13, is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 17-A MRSA §1204, sub-§l-C, as amended by PL 2005, c. 488, §5, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 5. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2005, c. 423, §7, is 
further amended to read: 
H. 
Lifetime registrant. 
"Lifetime registrant" means a person who is an adult 
convicted and sentenced or a juvenile convicted and sentenced as an adult of a: 
A. Sexually violent offense; or 
B. Sex offense when the person has ~ 
another conviction for or an attempt to 
commit an offense that includes the essential elements of a sex offense or sexually 
violent offense. For purposes of this paragraph, prior conviction moans a conviction 
that occurred at any time. More than one conviction may occur on the same day. 
Multiple comrictions that result from or are connected with the same act or that result 
from offenses committed at the same time are considered one com'iction unless the 
offenses v/ere committed against more than one victim. "another conviction" means: 
(1) 
For persons convicted and sentenced before September 17, 2005, a 
conviction for an offense for which sentence was imposed prior to the occurrence 
of the new offense; and 
(2) For persons convicted and sentenced on or after September 17, 2005, a 
conviction that occurred at any time. Convictions that occur on the same day 
may be counted as other offenses for the purposes of classifying a person as a 
lifetime registrant if: 
(a) There is more than one victim; or 
(b) The convictions are for offenses based on different conduct or arising 
from different criminal episodes. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill implements recommendations for immediate legislative changes to the Sex 
Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999, as recommended by the Joint 
Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety in its Fieal Report of the 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Study of Sex Offender Registration Laws 
in November 2008. 
The bill amends the crime of prohibited contact with a minor by repealing the 
element that the person has a duty to register under the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act of 1999 and by making the law applicable only to those persons 
convicted on or after June 30, 1992. The fact that a person must previously have been 
convicted of a Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, chapter 11 or chapter 12 offense 
against a victim who had not attained 14 years of age is material to the commission of the 
crime of prohibited contact with a minor. The bill also spedfies that the person must 
initiate the direct or indirect contact with another person who has not attained 14 years of 
age. 
The bill repeals from the sentencing provisions the directive that a court order a 
person convicted of a sex offense or a sexually violent offense to satisfy all requirements 
of the S ex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999. This change clarifies that 
the Legislature determines that a duty to register exists based on the conviction and that 
. the court's duty is only to notify the person of that duty. 
The bill repeals from the probation provisions the directive that a court attach as a 
condition of probation that a person convicted of a sex offense or a sexually violent 
offense satisfy all requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 
1999. The court has discretion to order any condition of prGbation reasonably related to 
the rehabilitation of the convicted person or the public safety or security, including 
satisfying registration requirements if appropriate. 
The bill amends that part of the definition of "lifetime registrant" in the Sex Offender 
Registration and Notification Act of 1999 that pertains to persons classified as lifetime 
registrants because of having mUltiple convictions for sex offenses to clarify that the 
changes made by Public Law 2005, chapter 423 operate prospectively. For persons 
convicted and sentenced on or after September 17, 2005, the definition remains 
unchanged except for technical drafting changes. For persons convicted and sentenced 
before September 17, 2005, the amendment changes the definition of "another 
conviction" to mean an offense for which sentence was imposed prior to the occurrence 
of the new offense. This change would undo the expansion of 10-year registrants who 
became lifetime registrants with the 2005 change, including those registrants whose duty 
to register had ended prior to that change. 
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