An Act To Establish as a Public Record the Performance Evaluation of a Municipal Employee
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1021
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: RYKERSON, BROOKS, EVANGELOS
Amends: 30-A MRSA §2702

Legislative Document 
No. 1021 
H.P. 719 
House of Representatives, March 14, 2013 
An Act To Establish as a Public Record the Performance Evaluation 
of a Municipal Employee 
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative RYKERSON of Kittery. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: BROOKS of Winterport, EVANGELOS of Friendship, 
McGOWAN of York. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §2702, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 1997, c. 770, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
B.  Municipal records pertaining to an identifiable employee and containing the 
following: 
(1)  Medical information of any kind, including information pertaining to 
diagnosis or treatment of mental or emotional disorders; 
(2)  Performance evaluations and personal Personal references submitted in 
confidence; 
(3)  Information pertaining to the creditworthiness of a named employee; 
(4)  Information pertaining to the personal history, general character or conduct 
of members of an employee's immediate family; and 
(5)  Complaints, charges or accusations of misconduct, replies to those 
complaints, charges or accusations and any other information or materials that 
may result in disciplinary action.  If disciplinary action is taken, the final written 
decision relating to that action is no longer confidential after the decision is 
completed if it imposes or upholds discipline.  The decision must state the 
conduct or other facts on the basis of which disciplinary action is being imposed 
and the conclusions of the acting authority as to the reasons for that action.  If an 
arbitrator completely overturns or removes disciplinary action from an employee 
personnel file, the final written decision is public except that the employee's 
name must be deleted from the final written decision and kept confidential.  If the 
employee whose name was deleted from the final written decision discloses that 
the employee is the person who is the subject of the final written decision, the 
entire final written report, with regard to that employee, is public. 
For purposes of this subparagraph, "final written decision" means: 
(a)  The final written administrative decision that is not appealed pursuant to 
a grievance arbitration procedure; or 
(b)  If the final written administrative decision is appealed to arbitration, the 
final written decision of a neutral arbitrator. 
A final written administrative decision that is appealed to arbitration is no longer 
confidential 120 days after a written request for the decision is made to the 
employer if the final written decision of the neutral arbitrator is not issued and 
released before the expiration of the 120 days; and 
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §2702, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and 
Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is 
further amended to read: 
2.  Employee right to review.  On written request from an employee or former 
employee, the municipal official with custody of the records shall provide the employee, 
former employee or the employee's authorized representative with an opportunity to 
review the employee's personnel file, if the municipal official has a personnel file for that 
employee.  These reviews shall must take place during normal office hours at the location 
where the personnel files are maintained.  For the purposes of this subsection, a personnel 
file includes, but is not limited to, any formal or informal employee evaluations and 
reports relating to the employee's character, credit, work habits, compensation and 
benefits which that the municipal official may possess.  The records described in 
subsection 1, paragraph B, may also be examined by the employee to whom they relate, 
as provided in this subsection. 
SUMMARY 
This bill removes from the list of records that are confidential the performance 
evaluation of a municipal employee.