An Act Regarding the Interception of Oral or Wire Communications of Residents of State Correctional Facilities and Jails
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1737
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: PLUMMER
Amends: 15 MRSA §709, 15 MRSA §712, 15 MRSA §713

Legislative Document 
No. 1737
H.P. 1282 
House of Representatives, January 4, 2012
An Act Regarding the Interception of Oral or Wire 
Communications of Residents of State Correctional Facilities and 
Jails 
Submitted by the Department of the Attorney General pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative PLUMMER of Windham. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §709, sub-§1-B is enacted to read: 
1-B.  Administration of juvenile criminal justice.  "Administration of juvenile 
criminal justice" has the same meaning as in section 3308, subsection 7, paragraph A, 
subparagraph (2). 
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §709, sub-§4-A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 361, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
4-A.  Investigative officer.  "Investigative officer" means an employee of the 
Department of Corrections designated by the Commissioner of Corrections as having the 
authority to conduct investigations of offenses crimes or juvenile crimes relating to the 
security or orderly management of a facility administered by the department and engage 
in any other activity that is related to the administration of criminal justice or the 
administration of juvenile criminal justice. 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §709, sub-§4-B, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 361, §2, is amended 
to read: 
4-B.  Jail investigative officer.  "County jail Jail investigative officer" means an 
employee of a county jail designated by the county jail administrator as having the 
authority to conduct investigations of offenses crimes relating to the security or orderly 
management of the county jail and engage in any other activity that is related to the 
administration of criminal justice. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §712, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 93, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Investigative officers.  It is not a violation of this chapter for an investigative 
officer, as defined in this chapter, or for an employee of the Department of Corrections 
acting at the direction of an investigative officer, to intercept, disclose or use that 
communication in the normal course of employment while engaged in any activity that is 
a necessary incident related to the administration of criminal justice or the administration 
of juvenile criminal justice, if: 
A.  Either the sender or receiver of that communication is a person residing in an 
adult or juvenile correctional facility administered by the Department of Corrections; 
and 
B.  Notice of the possibility of interception is provided in a way sufficient to make 
the parties to the communication aware of the possibility of interception, which 
includes: 
(1)  Providing the resident with a written notification statement; 
(2)  Posting written notification next to every telephone at the facility that is 
subject to monitoring; and 
(3) Informing the recipient of a telephone call from the resident by playing a 
recorded warning before the recipient accepts the call. 
This subsection does not authorize any interference with the attorney-client privilege. 
Sec. 5.  15 MRSA §712, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 361, §4, is amended to 
read: 
3.  Jail investigative officer.  It is not a violation of this chapter for a county jail 
investigative officer, as defined in this chapter, or for a county jail employee acting at the 
direction of a county jail investigative officer to intercept, disclose or use that 
communication in the normal course of employment while engaged in any activity that is 
a necessary incident related to the administration of criminal justice if: 
A.  Either the sender or the receiver of that communication is a person residing in an 
adult section of the county jail; and 
B.  Notice of the possibility of interception is provided in a way sufficient to make 
the parties to the communication aware of the possibility of interception, which 
includes: 
(1)  Providing the resident with a written notification statement; 
(2)  Posting written notification next to every telephone at the jail that is subject 
to monitoring; and 
(3) Informing the recipient of a telephone call from the resident by playing a 
recorded warning before the recipient accepts the call. 
This subsection does not authorize any interference with the attorney-client privilege. 
Sec. 6.  15 MRSA §712, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4.  Disclosure to another state agency.  It is not a violation of this chapter for the 
contents of an interception of any oral communication or wire communication that has 
been legally obtained pursuant to subsection 2 or 3 to be disclosed to a state agency if 
related to the statutory functions of that agency. 
Sec. 7.  15 MRSA §713, as amended by PL 1997, c. 361, §5, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§713.  Evidence 
The contents of an interception are not admissible in court, except that: 
1.  Contents obtained under the laws of another jurisdiction.  The contents of an 
interception of any oral communication or wire communication that has been legally 
obtained under the laws of another jurisdiction in which the interception occurred are 
admissible in the courts of this State, subject to the Maine Rules of Evidence; and 
2.  Contents obtained under this chapter.  The contents of an interception of any 
oral communication or wire communication that has been legally obtained pursuant to 
section 712, subsection 2 or 3 are admissible in the courts of this State, subject to the 
Maine Rules of Evidence, if related to the administration of criminal justice or the 
administration of juvenile criminal justice or the statutory functions of a state agency. 
SUMMARY 
This bill clarifies several aspects of the law regarding the interception of oral and 
wire communications of residents of state correctional facilities and county and regional 
jails. 
1.  The bill resolves a possible conflict regarding the authority of Department of 
Corrections investigative officers and jail investigative officers by adding to the 
definitions of those terms language referring to the administration of criminal justice.  It 
also removes the word "county" in referring to jail investigative officers in recognition of 
the recent establishment of a regional jail, which is not operated by any one county. 
2.  The bill defines "administration of juvenile criminal justice" to reconcile current 
law with changes made by Public Law 2009, chapter 93, which allowed the Department 
of Corrections to intercept phone calls of residents of its juvenile correctional facilities. 
3.  The bill strikes the term "necessary incident" and replaces it with "related" to 
avoid an overly strict interpretation of the circumstances under which phone calls may be 
intercepted, disclosed or used or the contents thereof admitted into court. 
4.  The bill also provides that the contents of oral and wire communications 
intercepted by these investigative officers are admissible in court only if related to the 
administration of criminal justice or the administration of juvenile criminal justice or the 
statutory functions of a state agency.