An Act To Create a Permanent Wabanaki Law Enforcement Seat on the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0140
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: SOCTOMAH, BURNS, CASAVANT, CHENETTE, DION, DOAK, JOHNSON, KAENRATH, MAKER, MITCHELL
Amends: 25 MRSA §2802

Legislative Document 
No. 140 
H.P. 115 
House of Representatives, January 31, 2013 
An Act To Create a Permanent Wabanaki Law Enforcement Seat 
on the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative SOCTOMAH of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. 
Cosponsored by Senator BURNS of Washington and 
Representatives: CASAVANT of Biddeford, CHENETTE of Saco, DION of Portland, DOAK 
of Columbia Falls, JOHNSON of Greenville, KAENRATH of South Portland, MAKER of 
Calais, MITCHELL of the Penobscot Nation. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  25 MRSA §2802, as amended by PL 2005, c. 331, §7, is further amended 
to read: 
§2802.  Board of trustees 
There is created a board of trustees for the academy consisting of 17 18 members as 
follows: the Commissioner of Public Safety, ex officio, the Attorney General, ex officio, 
the Game Warden Colonel in the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, ex officio, 
the Commissioner of Corrections, ex officio, and the Chief of the State Police, ex officio, 
a law enforcement official representing the Wabanaki tribal governments of the 
Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe at Motahmikuk, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and the Penobscot Nation and 
the following to be appointed by the Governor: a county sheriff, a chief of a municipal 
police department, 2 officers of municipal police departments, an educator who is not and 
has never been a sworn member of a law enforcement agency, a representative from a 
criminal justice agency not involved in the general enforcement of Maine criminal laws, a 
representative of a federal law enforcement agency, 3 citizens each of whom are not and 
have never been sworn members of a law enforcement agency, a municipal official who 
is not and has never been a sworn member of a law enforcement agency and one 
nonsupervisory corrections officer representing a state or county correctional facility.  
The law enforcement official representing the 5 Wabanaki tribal governments must be 
appointed by the tribal governments by a process determined by those governments that 
provides for rotating membership among the tribal governments. 
A designee of an ex officio member is a member of the board only during the term of 
office of the ex officio member who designated the designee. All of the other members of 
the board serve for a term of 3 years except that the Wabanaki law enforcement member 
serves for a term of 2 years.  A trustee holds office for the term for which the trustee is 
appointed or until the trustee's successor had has been appointed and qualified.  Members 
of the board are entitled to compensation in accordance with Title 5, chapter 379.  Any 
vacancy on the board of trustees must be filled in the same manner as the original 
appointment, but for the unexpired term. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides a permanent seat on the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal 
Justice Academy for a representative of the 5 Wabanaki tribal governments.  The tribal 
representative must be chosen for a 2-year term by a process determined by the tribal 
governments.  The process must require that the position rotate among the 5 tribal 
governments.