An Act To Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1611
Committee Amendment CA_B_H764 (House)
Amends: 34-A MRSA §1406

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" 13" to H.P. 1139, L.D. 1611, Bill, "An Act To 
Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners" 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 34-A MRSA §1406 is enacted to rea~: 
§,1406. 
Minimum standards governing the humane treatment of special 
management prisoners 
The commissioner shall ensure that special management prisoners are treated in 
accordance with the minimum standards for humane treatment established in this section. 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Serious mental illness" means schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective 
disorder, major depression or any other psychiatric condition that is recognized by a 
statewide association of psychiatric physicians that would tend to cause a prisoner's 
emotional stability to deteriorate if confined in a special management unit for an 
extended period. 
B. "Special management prisoner" means a prisoner housed in a special management 
unit. 
' 
C. "Special management unit" means a high-security unit within a prison facility that 
houses a prisoner assigned by the commissioner to a high-risk management status, an 
administration segregation status or a disciplinary segregation status. 
2. Special management unit criteria for prisoners with serious mental illness. A 
prisoner determined to be suffering from a serious mental illness may not be confined in a 
special management unit. 
Prisoners confined in a special management unit must be 
evaluated by a licensed mental health professional in private within 48 hours of 
placement and at least every 7 days thereafter. Such evaluations must be conducted in 
person, not through a cell door, with audio privacy and must assess the current mental 
status and condition of the prisoner and the current risk of suicide or other self-harming 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
yj..~ 
~t' ~; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·8 " 
to H.P. 1139, L.D. 1611 
behavior and include a review of the prisoner's inpatient and outpatient treatment history. 
A prisoner determined to suffer from a serious mental illness at the time of an evaluation 
must be removed from the special management unit within 7 days. If the prisoner is 
subsequently transferred to a psychiatric or mental health unit or a hospital, the 
commissioner shall ensure that the prisoner is held in conditions that do not violate this 
section. 
3. Limitation on confinement; rights to a hearing. A prisoner may not remain 
confined in a special management unit for more than 45 consecutive calendar days unless 
it is determined by a hearing that within the previous 45 days the prisoner has committed 
or attempted to commit a sexual assault, an escape from confinement or an act of serious 
physical violence or that housing the prisoner in the general population of a correctional 
facility would pose an immediate and unacceptable risk to the safety of staff or other 
prisoners. The hearing must be conducted by a panel of at least 3 persons appointed by 
the commissioner, one of whom must be a clinician representing the mental health staff at 
the facility in which the prisoner is housed. At such hearings, the department has the 
burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. The following provisions apply to a 
hearing conducted' under this subsection: 
A. The commissioner shall provide written notice to the prisoner at least 72 hours 
before the hearing. 
That written notice must set forth the factual basis for the 
continued placement in the special management unit and must provide notice that the 
priso'ner has the right to appear in person at the hearing, the right to submit evidence 
in the prisoner's defense, the right to call relevant witnesses and the right to be 
represented at the hearing by an attorney if secured and paid for by the prisoner; 
B. The commissioner shall make an audiovisual recording of the hearing and shall 
maintain all records of the hearing, including the audiovisual record and all written 
records, until at least 120 days after the release of the prisoner from incarceration; 
C. The panel conducting the hearing shall issue a written decision within 5 days after 
the hearing and provide a copy of that decision to the prisoner, including the reasons 
for the decision; 
D. If the panel authorizes the commissioner to continue holding the prisoner for 
longer than 45 days in the special management unit based on a finding of one of the 
conditions in this subsection, the decision of the panel must include guidance to the 
prisoner as to what the prisoner must do to gain release from the special management 
unit and inform the prisoner that the panel must review its decision every 30 days to 
determine if the prisoner should continue to be housed in the special management 
unit; and 
E. A prisoner may appeal a decision of the panel under paragraph C to the chief 
administrative officer after notice of the decision is received by the prisoner. The 
chief administrative officer shall respond in writing to an appeal within 7 days. A 
decision by the chief administrative officer on an appeal or a failure by the chief 
administrative officer to issue a decision within 7 days is a final agency action as 
defined in Title 5, section 8002, and the prisoner is entitled to judicial review of that 
decision under the provisions of Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 7. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
'} 
) 
',) 
.') 
",I 
.. ,") 
.. 
Ii 
,e.. 
, 
\\.~~ ....... 
(r .. ,; 
I 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"b"to I-LP, 1139, L.D. 1611 
4. Other disciplinary restrictions. A special management prisoner's access to food, 
medical or sanitaJY facilities, mail or legal assistance may not be restricted. 
5. Listing of special management prisoners. The commissioner shall maintain a 
current list of all special management prisoners that includes the date of confinement in 
the special management unit, the date of the last review, the date of the last mental health 
evaluation, the reasons for placement in the special management unit and, in cases when 
the prisoner has been housed in that unit for more than 60 days, a written statement of the 
criteria relied upon to suppOli that extended confinement. 
The commissioner shall 
provide the board of visitors for each correctional facility appointed under section 
3001-A, the State Board of Corrections and the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over corrections matters with a copy of that list on a 
quarterly basis. 
. 
6. 
Annual review. 
The State Board of Corrections shall annually conduct a 
cOlnprehensive review of the policies, standards and treatment of special management 
prisoners to determine the effectiveness of those policies and standards and the degree to 
which the treatment of special management prisoners complies with this section. The 
State Board of Corrections shall include its findings under this subsection in the annual 
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
corrections matters required by section 300 I-A.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is one of 2 committee minority amendments and establishes 
minimum standards for the humane treatment of special management prisoners of the 
Department of Corrections. 
As defined in this amendment, a "special management 
prisoner" is a prisoner assigned to disciplinary, high-risk or administrative segregation 
and confined in a special management unit. The amendment amends the definition of 
"severe mental illness" to mean schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffectivedisorder, 
major depression or any other psychiatric condition that is recognized by a statewide 
association of psychiatric physicians that would tend to cause the prisoner's emotional 
stability to deteriorate if confined in a special management unit for an extended period. 
The amendment amends the provision addressing special management unit criteria 
for persons with serious mental illness by adding the requirement that evaluations must 
be conducted with audio privacy. 
The minimum standards established in the amendment include limiting a prisoner's 
confinement to a special management unit to 45 days unless it is determined at a hearing 
that within the previous 45 days the prisoner has committed or attempted to commit a 
sexual assault, an escape fi'om confinement, an act of serious physical violence or that 
housing the prisoner in the general population of a correctional facility would pose an 
immediate and unacceptable risk to the safety of staff or other prisoners. At hearings, the 
depaliment has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. The amendment 
prohibits the confinement of prisoners with serious mental illness to a special 
management unit and requires that a special management prisoner determined to be 
suffering from serious mental illness be removed from the special management unit 
within 7 days. The amendment strikes language that addresses corporal punishment and 
restrictions on transferring prisoners out of state. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
· c.. 
'\.~ f~" 
'hOP 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "/!;" to H.P. 1139, L.D. 1611 
The amendment also authorizes the calling of relevant witnesses and having an 
attorney at hearings, but requires that these be secured and paid for by the prisoner. The 
amendment requires panel review of a placement decision every 30 days instead of every 
days and specifies that appeals are made to the chief administrative officer of the 
facility and not to the Commissioner of Corrections. The amendment also clarifies that 
holding a prisoner for more tilan 45 days must be based on a finding as outlined in the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 34-A, section 1406, subsection 3. 
The amendment also requires the Commissioner of Corrections to maintain a current 
list of all special management prisoners and, when the prisoner has been retained for 
more than 60 days in one or more of the units of the special management unit, to also 
retain a written statement of the criteria relied upon to suppOli that extended confinement. 
The commissioner shall provide the boards of visitors, the State Board of Corrections and 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over corrections 
matters with a copy of that list on a qUaIierly basis. 
. 
IS 
The amendment further requires the State Board of Corrections to annually conduct a 
comprehensive review of the policies, standards and treatment of special management 
prisoners to determine the effectiveness of those policies and standards and the degree to 
which the treatment of special management prisoners complies with the law. The State 
Board of Corrections is required to include its findings in its annual report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over corrections matters. 
The amendment maintains the requirement of the bill that the Commissioner of 
Corrections review the. status of all special management prisoners in the State to 
determine whether prisoners confined to special management units should remain in 
those units and to ensure that prisoners held in special management units more than 45 
days receive a hearing. The commissioner is also required to review all policies in effect 
on the effective date of the bill relating to special management prisoners and update those 
policies as necessary to conform to the law. 
FISCAL :\OTE REQL"IRED. 
(S~~~~_t.t~.c~~~t 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
') 
:,I 
') 
.. -
) 
') 
I: 
J 
("--\ 
Approved: 03/21/10 Mac::.. 
LD 1611 
LR 2289(03) 
An Act To Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "e)' 
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Current biennium cost increase - General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The Department of Corrections will require significant additional General Fund appropriations beginning in fiscal 
year 2010-11 for the additional costs at the Maine State Prison that result from this bill. Prohibiting a prisoner 
determined to be suffering from a serious mental illness from being confined in a special management unit will require 
the department to reassign these prisoners into 2 existing 56-bed units presently used for close security prisoners and 
necessitate the construction of a new close security housing unit at the Maine State Prison to house the inmates who 
are displaced. If the department were authorized to issue securities for the construction of a new pod, the debt service 
on $12,600,000 is estimated to be approximately $1,500,000 a year for 10 years. The additional staffing cost 
associated with the reassignment of prisoners to the existing units is estimated to be $3,300,000 annually. The annual 
cost associated with staffing a new 56-bed housing unit is estimated to be $2,600,000 per year. 
This bill also expands a prisoner's right to a hearing which results in the need for additional Hearing Officer positions 
and additional Correctional Officer positions to escort prisoners to these hearings. The annual cost of these positions 
and hearing-related expenses is estimated to be $975,000 annually. The Department of Corrections will also require 
funding for the one-time costs of additional audio and video equipment. 
The timing of the General Fund appropriations required by the Depart1pent of Corrections will depend on how quickly 
the department will be able to reassign prisoners and the timing of separate legislation authorizing the issuance of 
securities to construct a new housing unit at the Maine State Prison. Therefore, no appropriations are made at this 
time. 
LR2289(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1