An Act To Further Regulate the Communications of Members of Public Bodies
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1551
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: POSTIE
Amends: 1 MRSA §402, 1 MRSA §414

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAl E LEGISLATURE 
SECOND REGULAR SE§SION=2010 
Legislative Document 
No. 1551 
H.P. 1093 
House of Representatives, December 21,2009 
An Act To Further Regulate the Communications of Members of 
Public Bodies 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 17,2009. Referred to the Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative POSTIE of Sabattus. 
Cospon~ored by Senator NUTTING of Andr~scoggin and 
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I7/d~ /h.1l/iLC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives, BERRY of Bowdoinham, BICKFQRD of Auburn, LAJOIE of Lewiston, 
ROTUNDO of Lewiston, TREAT of Hallowell, VAN WIE of New Gloucester, Senators: 
CRAVEN of Androscoggin, SIMPSON of Androscoggin. 
Prillt~d l'n recych:d p:Jpcr 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §402, sub-§l-B is enacted to read: 
I-B. Electronic mail. "Electronic mail" means a communication sent or delivered 
by transmission over the Internet. 
Sec. 2. 1 MRSA §402, sub-§l-C is enacted to read: 
l-C. Group electronic mail. "Group electronic mail" means electronic mail sent to 
more than one person by means of a single transmission. "Group electronic mail" does 
not include an identical communication sent by a series of individual transmissions to 
individual recipients. 
Sec. 3. 1 MRS A §402, sub-§3, as corrected by RR 2009, c. I, §§ I to 3, is further 
amended to read: 
3. Public records. The term "public records" means any written, printed or graphic 
matter or any mechanical or electronic data compilation from which information can be 
obtained, directly or after translation into a form susceptible of visual or aural 
comprehension, that is in the possession or custody of an agency or public official of this 
State or any of its political subdivisions, or is in the possession or custody of an 
association, the membership of which is composed exclusively of one or more of any of 
these entities, and has been received or prepared for use in connection with the 
transaction of public or governmental business or contains information relating to the 
transaction of public or governmental business, except: 
A. 
Records that have been designated confidential by statute; 
B. 
Records that would be within the scope of a privilege against discovery or use as 
evidence recognized by the courts of this State in civil or criminal trials if the records 
or inspection thereof were sought in the course of a court proceeding; 
C. 
Legislative papers and reports until signed and publicly distributed in accordance 
with legislative rules, and records, working papers, drafts and interoffice and 
intraoffice memoranda used or maintained by any Legislator, legislative agency or 
legislative employee to prepare proposed Senate or House papers or reports for 
consideration by the Legislature or any of its committees during the legislative 
session or sessions in which the papers or reports are prepared or considered or to 
which the paper or report is carried over; 
D. 
Material prepared for and used specifically and exclusively in preparation for 
negotiations, including the development of bargaining proposals to be made and the 
analysis of proposals received, by a public employer in collective bargaining with its 
employees and their designated representatives; 
E. 
Records, working papers, interoffice and intraoffice memoranda used by or 
prepared for faculty and administrative committees of the Maine Maritime Academy, 
the Maine Community College System and the University of Maine System. The 
provisions of this paragraph do not apply to the boards of trustees and the committees 
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and subcommittees of those boards, which are referred to in subsection 2, paragraph 
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F. 
Records that would be confidential if they were in the possession or custody of 
an agency or public official of the State or any of its political or administrative 
subdivisions are confidential if those records are in the possession of an association, 
the membership of which is composed exclusively of one or more political or 
administrative subdivisions of the State; of boards, commissions, agencies or 
authorities of any such subdivisions; or of any combination of any of these entities; 
G. 
Materials related to the development of positions on legislation or materials that 
are related to insurance or insurance-like protection or services which are in the 
possession of an association, the membership of which is composed exclusively of 
one or more political or administrative subdivisions of the State; of boards, 
commissions, agencies or authorities of any such subdivisions; or of any combination 
of any of these entities; 
H. 
Medical records and reports of municipal ambulance and rescue units and other 
emergency medical service units, except that such records and reports must be 
available upon request to law enforcement officers investigating criminal conduct; 
I. 
Juvenile records and reports of municipal fire departments regarding the 
investigation and family background of ajuvenile fire setter; 
1. 
Working papers, including records, drafts and interoffice and intraoffice 
memoranda, used or maintained by any advisory organization covered by subsection 
2, paragraph F, or any member or staff of that organization during the existence of the 
advisory organization. Working papers are public records if distributed by a member 
or in a public meeting of the advisory organization; 
K. 
Personally identifying information concerning minors that is obtained or 
maintained by a municipality in providing recreational or nonmandatory educational 
programs or services, if the municipality has enacted an ordinance that specifies the 
circumstances in which the information will be withheld from disclosure. 
This 
paragraph does not apply to records governed by Title 20-A, section 6001 and does 
not supersede Title 20-A, section 600 I-A; 
L. 
Records describing security plans, security procedures or risk assessments 
prepared specifically for the purpose of preventing or preparing for acts of terrorism, 
but only to the extent that release of information contained in the record could 
reasonably be expected to jeopardize the physical safety of government personnel or 
the public. 
Information contained in records covered by this paragraph may be 
disclosed to the Legislature or, in the case of a political or administrative subdivision, 
to municipal officials or board members under conditions that protect the information 
from further disclosure. For purposes of this paragraph, "terrorism" means conduct 
that is designed to cause serious bodily injury or substantial risk of bodily injury to 
multiple persons, substantial damage to multiple structures whether occupied or 
unoccupied or substantial physical damage sufficient to disrupt the normal 
functioning of a critical infrastructure; 
M. 
Records or information describing the architecture, design, access 
authentication, encryption or security of information technology infrastructure and 
systems. Records or information covered by this paragraph may be disclosed to the 
Legislature or, in the case of a political or administrative subdivision, to municipal 
officials or board members under conditions that protect the information from further 
disclosure; 
N. Social security numbers in the possession of the DepaJ1ment of Inland Fisheries 
and Wildlife; 
O. 
Personal contact information concerning public employees, except when that 
information is public pursuant to other law. For the purposes of this paragraph: 
(1) 
"Personal contact information" means home address, home telephone 
number, home facsimile number, home e-mail address and personal cellular 
telephone number and personal pager number; and 
(2) "Public employee" means an employee as defined in Title 14, section 8102, 
subsection I, except that "public employee" does not include elected officials; 
P. Geographic information re~ trding recreational trails that are located on private 
land that are authorized volunta 'i1y as such by the landowner with no public deed or 
guaranteed right of public access, unless the landowner authorizes the release of the 
information; and 
Q. Security plans, staffing plans, security procedures, architectural drawings or risk 
assessments prepared for emergency events that are prepared for or by or kept in the 
custody of the Department of Corrections or a county jail if there is a reasonable 
possibility that public release or inspection of the records would endanger thc life or 
physical safety of any individual or disclose security plans and procedures not 
generally known by the general public. Information contained in recorqs covered by 
this paragraph may be disclosed to state and county officials if necessary to carry out 
the duties of the officials, the Department of Corrections or members of the State 
Board of Corrections under conditions that protect the information from further 
disclosure. 
"Public records" includes electronic mail that is sent by a member of a body described in 
subsection 2, paragraphs A to G to a quorum of members of that same body regarding a 
substantive matter that is before the body. 
Sec. 4. 1 MRSA §402, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5. Substantive matter. "Substantive matter" means a matter of policy or substance 
as opposed to a matter of form or procedure. "Substantive matter" does not include 
administrative issues such as the scheduling of meetings, the dissemination of studies or 
reports or the development of agendas. 
Sec. 5. 1 MRS A §413 is enacted to read: 
§413. Prohibited communications 
1. Group electronic mail to other memben-s. A member of a body described in 
section 402, subsection 2, paragraphs A to G may not knowingly send a group electronic 
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mail to a quorum of the members of that body regarding a substantive matter that is 
before the body. 
2. Communicate majority agreement. A member of a body described in section 
402, subsection 2, paragraphs A to G may not directly or through an intermediary 
communicate that a majority of the body is in agreement regarding a substantive matter 
that is before the body to a person who is not a member of the body, unless the agreement 
was previously reached at a public proceeding. 
Sec. 6. 1 MRSA §414 is enacted to read: 
§414. Electronic mail; disclosure requirement 
If a member of a body described in section 402, subsection 2, paragraphs A to G 
sends electronic mail to a quorum of members of that same body regarding a substantive 
matter that is before the body, the member that sends the electronic mail must ensure that 
the electronic mail is printed and made available to the public at the next public meeting 
of the body before the body takes a vote on the substantive matter. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the law governing access to public records and proceedings. This 
bill: 
1. Provides definitions of "electronic mail," "group electronic mail" and "substantive 
matter"; 
2. Prohibits a member of a public body from knowingly sending a group electronic 
mail to a quorum of the members of that body regarding a substantive matter that is 
before the body; 
3. 
Prohibits a member of a public body from directly or through an intermediary 
communicating that a majority of that body is in agreement regarding a substantive 
matter that is before the body to interested persons who are not members of the body; 
4. Specifies that "public records" includes electronic mail that is sent by a member of 
a public body to a quorum of members of that same body regarding a substantive matter 
that is before the body; and 
5. Requires that if a member of a public body sends electronic mail to a quorum of 
members of that same body regarding a substantive matter that is before the body, the 
electronic mail must be printed and made available to the public at the next public 
meeting before the body takes a vote on that matter.