An Act To Declare Certain Records of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services Confidential
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0609
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: BLISS, GERZOFSKY, HASTINGS, DILL
Amends: 4 MRSA §1806

Legislative Document 
No. 609 
S.P. 189 
In Senate, February 17, 2011 
An Act To Declare Certain Records of the Maine Commission on 
Indigent Legal Services Confidential 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator BLISS of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Senators: GERZOFSKY of Cumberland, HASTINGS of Oxford, 
Representative: DILL of Cape Elizabeth. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  4 MRSA §1806 is enacted to read: 
§1806.  Information not public record 
Disclosure of information and records in the possession of the commission is 
governed by this section. 
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A.  "Individual client information" means name, date of birth, social security number, 
gender, ethnicity, home address, home telephone number, home facsimile number, 
home e-mail address, personal cellular telephone number, personal pager number and 
any information protected under the attorney-client relationship. 
B.  "Personal contact information" means home address, home telephone number, 
home facsimile number, home e-mail address, personal cellular telephone number, 
personal pager number, date of birth and social security number. 
C.  "Request for funds for expert or investigative assistance" means a request 
submitted to the commission by an indigent party or by an attorney on behalf of an 
indigent client seeking authorization to expend funds for expert or investigative 
assistance, which includes, but is not limited to, the assistance of a private 
investigator, interpreter or translator, psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health 
expert, medical expert and scientific expert. 
2.  Confidential information.  The following information and records in the 
possession of the commission are not open to public inspection and do not constitute 
public records as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3. 
A.  Individual client information that is submitted by a commission-rostered attorney 
or a court is confidential. 
B.  Information subject to the lawyer-client privilege set forth in the Maine Rules of 
Evidence, Rule 502 or that constitutes a confidence or secret under the Maine Rules 
of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6 is confidential. 
C.  Personal contact information of a commission-rostered attorney is confidential. 
D.  Personal contact information of a member of the commission or a commission 
staff member is confidential. 
E.  A request for funds for expert or investigative assistance that is submitted by an 
indigent party or by an attorney on behalf of an indigent client is confidential. The 
decision of the executive director of the commission hired pursuant to section 1804, 
subsection 1, or the executive director's designee, to grant or deny such a request is 
not confidential. 
F.  Any information obtained or gathered by the commission when performing an 
evaluation of an attorney is confidential. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes certain records in the possession of the Maine Commission on 
Indigent Legal Services confidential. Specifically, the bill makes confidential: 
1. Individual client information; 
2. Information that is subject to the attorney-client privilege or that is defined as 
confidential under the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct; 
3. Personal contact information of commission-rostered attorneys, members of the 
commission and commission staff; 
4. Requests for funds for expert or investigative assistance; and 
5. Information obtained or gathered by the commission when performing an 
evaluation of an attorney.