An Act To Require Prisoners To Perform Community Service and To Require Jails, Prisons, Nonprofit Entities, Universities and Counties To Compost Food Waste
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0442
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: McFADDEN, CRAVEN, AYOTTE, CRAY, FLETCHER, GIFFORD, JOY, SA VIELLO
Amends: 17-A MRSA §1345-A

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAl E LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 442 
H.P.330 
House of Representatives, Febmary 10, 2009 
An Act To Require Prisoners To Perform Community Service and 
To Require Jails, Prisons, Nonprofit Entities, Universities and 
Counties To Compost Food Waste 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative McFADDEN of Dennysville. (BY REQUEST) 
Cosponsored by Senator CRAVEN of Androscoggin and 
Representatives: AYOTTE of Caswell, CRAY of Palmyra, FLETCHER of Winslow, 
GIFFORD of Lincoln, JOY of Crystal, SA VIELLO of Wilton; THIBODEAU of Winterport. 
Primed on recycled pupel' 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §1345-A is enacted to read: 
§1345-A. Mandatory community seryice by inmates 
1. A person sentenced to a period of imprisonment and committed to the custody of 
the Department of Corrections or a county jail shall participate in community service 
work as determined appropriate by the chief administrative officer of the correctional 
facility. 
2. The Department of Corrections and each county jail shall establish community 
service programs that include, at a minimum: constructing raised bed gardens for the 
correctional facility, the community or individuals; growing, harvesting and storing the 
gardens' crops; and composting all food wastes. 
3. The Department of Corrections and the county jails may seek the support of the 
State Board of Corrections in adopting policies necessary to implement the purposes of 
this section. 
Sec. 2. Composting initiative. The University of Maine System, the Maine 
Community College System, Maine Maritime Academy and all counties and public 
nonprofit entities that prepare and serve meals, including, but not limited to, hospitals, 
county jails and prisons, shall develop and implement food composting programs no later 
than December 30, 2009. Composted materials may be distributed to the Department of 
Corrections and to county jails as needed for the purpose of supporting their community 
service gardens under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1345-A. The 
Department of Corrections shall collect information from its correctional facilities and the 
county jails about participation in the food composting programs and report its findings to 
the Legislature by March 1,2010. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires the DepaJ1ment of Corrections and the county jails to establish 
community service programs for inmates and requires inmates to participate in those 
programs as determined appropriate. The community service programs may include any 
service, but must include a gardening program. The Department of Corrections and the 
county jails may seek the support of the State Board of Corrections in developing and 
implementing the community service programs. 
The bill also requires the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College 
System, Maine Maritime Academy and all counties and nonprofit entities, including, but 
not limited to, hospitals, county jails and prisons that prepare and serve meals, to develop 
and implement food composting programs no later than December 30,2009. Composted 
materials may be distributed to the Department of Corrections and to county jails as 
needed for the purpose of supporting their community service gardens. 
Page I - 124LR0830(OI)-1 
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