An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Records of Public Proceedings . . Reported hy Representative PRIEST of Brunswick for the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 411, subsection 6, paragraph G. Reference t6 the Committee on judiciary suggested and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. . Printed on recycled pnpt:r 711~ 1I1.1J?ti£~{
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1791
Committee: judiciary
Amends: 1 MRSA §403

Legislative Document 
No. 1791 
H.P.1279 
House of Representatives, February 23,2010 
An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know 
Advisory Committee Concerning Records of Public Proceedings 
. 
. 
Reported hy Representative PRIEST of Brunswick for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 411, subsection 6, paragraph G. 
Reference t6 the Committee on judiciary suggested and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 218.' 
. 
Printed on recycled pnpt:r 
'711~ 
1I1.1J?ti£~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §403, as amended by PL 2009, c. 240, § 1, is repealed' and the 
following enacted in its place:, 
§403. 'Meetings to be open to pUblic; record of ~eetings 
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,. 1. Open to public. Except as otherwise provided by statute or by section 405; all 
.; public proceedings must be open to the public, any person must be permitted to attend a 
public proceeding and any public record or minutes of such, proceedings that are required 
by law must be made within a reasonable period of time after the proceeding and must be 
open to public inspection. 
2.' Record of public proceedings. Unless otherWise provided by law, records of all 
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public proceedings for which notice is required under section 406 must be made within a 
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reasonable period of time after the proceedings and be open to public inspection. At a 
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minimum, a record must include: 
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A. The date, time and phice of the public proceeding; 
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B. The members of the body holding the public proceeding recorded as either present 
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or absent; 
C. The general substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided; and 
D. All motions and votes taken, by individual member ifthere is a roll call. 
3. Audio or video' recording. An audio, video or other electronic retording of a 
public proceeding satisfies the requirements of subsection 2. 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a recommendation of a majority of the Right To Know. Advisory 
Committee as described 'in its 4th annual report. 
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This bill requires that a record of all public proceedings for which notice is required 
under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 406 must be made within a reasonable 
period of time after the proceeding. The record is a public record and must be open to 
pubHc inspection. At a minimum, the record must include: the date, time and place of 
the public proceeding; the members of the body recorded as either present or absent; the 
general substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided; and all motions and votes 
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taken, by individual member if there is a roll call. An audio, video or other electronic 
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recording of a public proceeding is sufficient. 
This bill is not intended to change current practices of public bodies that are regularly 
keeping a record or minutes, but to require that a minimum record of meetings must be 
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kept for those bodies that do not already do so. 
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