An Act To Establish the Forensic Advisory Committee
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1045
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: KORNFIELD, COOPER, DILL, GOODE, MORRISON, PRIEST, PRINGLE, SCHNECK, VILLA
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-I, 22 MRSA §3036

Legislative Document 
No. 1045 
H.P. 736 
House of Representatives, March 14, 2013 
An Act To Establish the Forensic Advisory Committee 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative KORNFIELD of Bangor. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: COOPER of Yarmouth, DILL of Old Town, GOODE of 
Bangor, MORRISON of South Portland, PRIEST of Brunswick, PRINGLE of Windham, 
SCHNECK of Bangor, VILLA of Harrison. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§74-H is enacted to read: 
74-H.   
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §3036 is enacted to read: 
§3036.  Forensic Advisory Committee 
1.  Appointment; composition; term; compensation.  The Forensic Advisory 
Committee, established under Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-H and referred to in 
this section as "the committee," consists of 5 members.  The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Judicial Court shall appoint as chair a justice that sits on the Superior Court.  The chair 
shall appoint the other committee members, including: 
A.  A prosecutor with expertise in forensic science from the Office of the Attorney 
General or a prosecutorial district under Title 30-A, section 254; 
B.  A criminal defense attorney with expertise in forensic science; 
C.  A physician who specializes in clinical laboratory medicine, to be chosen from a 
list of nominees provided by the Commissioner of Health and Human Services; and 
D.  An academic research scientist with a doctorate in biological sciences, to be 
chosen from a list of nominees provided by the Chancellor of the University of Maine 
System. 
Members are appointed for a term of 4 years.  A vacancy must be filled in the same 
manner as the position was originally filled for the unexpired portion of the term.  A 
member may be reappointed for additional terms.  Appointed members serve until their 
successors are appointed.  Members serve without compensation. 
2.  Meetings; reports.  The committee shall meet at least 4 times a year and convene 
special meetings at the call of the chair, a majority of the members of the committee or 
the Attorney General.  By January 1st of each year, the committee shall make a report to 
the Attorney General and to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters that includes any 
recommendations and an account of all actions performed over the previous year to carry 
out the duties under subsection 4. 
3.  Staff.  The Attorney General shall appoint an attorney from the Office of the 
Attorney General to serve as executive director of the committee.  The Office of the 
Attorney General shall provide staff for administrative and investigative assistance to the 
committee. 
4.  Duties.  The committee shall: 
Public Safety 
Forensic Advisory 
Committee 
Not Authorized 
MRSA §3036 
A.  Review operations at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Maine State 
Police Crime Laboratory and the forensic chemistry section of the Health and 
Environmental Testing Laboratory and make recommendations to the Attorney 
General,  Commissioner of Public Safety and Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services for each laboratory concerning: 
(1)  The quality and timeliness of service provided to state agencies and other 
users; 
(2)  Accreditation of the laboratory and qualification standards for a scientist 
working in the laboratory;  
(3)  Blind proficiency testing for a scientist working in the laboratory; and 
(4)  Internal oversight of the laboratory; 
B.  Review the operation of a laboratory under paragraph A when there has been an 
allegation of: 
(1)  Serious negligence or misconduct; or 
(2)  Misidentification of evidence or another testing error made during the 
examination of evidence; 
C.  Upon request of the Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Safety 
or Commissioner of Health and Human Services, review the analytical work, reports 
or conclusions of personnel of a laboratory under paragraph A; and 
D.  Review and make recommendations to the Attorney General, Commissioner of 
Public Safety or Commissioner of Health and Human Services concerning: 
(1)  Resources to enhance the mission of a laboratory under paragraph A; 
(2)  New scientific programs of, protocols for, instrumentation for or methods of 
forensic testing; or 
(3) Relevant informational material for laboratory personnel, attorneys or judges. 
5.  Recommendations by Attorney General.  The Attorney General shall review the 
annual report under subsection 2 and provide recommendations and suggested legislation 
to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice 
and public safety matters based on the report.  The joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters may report 
out a bill based upon the recommendations and suggested legislation. 
Sec. 3.  Forensic Advisory Committee initial terms.  Notwithstanding the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 3036, subsection 1, of the initial members of the 
Forensic Advisory Committee, 2 members serve for 2 years, 2 members serve for 3 years 
and the chair serves for 4 years. 
SUMMARY 
This bill creates the Forensic Advisory Committee, which reports to the Attorney 
General, to review and make recommendations about the operations of the Office of the 
Chief Medical Examiner, the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and the forensic 
chemistry section of the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory.  The committee is 
also required to review the conduct of personnel, errors in testing and new programs of, 
protocols for and methods of forensic testing.