An Act To Establish a Rebuttable Presumption Regarding a Corrections Employee That Contracts Hypertension or Cardiovascular Disease
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1149
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: DeCHANT, CASAVANT, GERZOFSKY, PATRICK
Amends: 39-A MRSA §328-C

Legislative Document 
No. 1149 
H.P. 814 
House of Representatives, March 21, 2013 
An Act To Establish a Rebuttable Presumption Regarding a 
Corrections Employee That Contracts Hypertension or 
Cardiovascular Disease 
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DeCHANT of Bath. 
Cosponsored by Representative: CASAVANT of Biddeford, Senators: GERZOFSKY of 
Cumberland, PATRICK of Oxford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  39-A MRSA §328-C is enacted to read: 
§328-C.  Hypertension or cardiovascular disease; corrections employee 
Hypertension or cardiovascular disease suffered by a corrections employee or 
resulting in a corrections employee's death is governed by this section. 
1.  Corrections employee defined.  "Corrections employee" means: 
A.  An employee of the Maine State Prison or the Department of Corrections who is 
employed in a correctional facility, as defined in Title 34-A, section 1001, or whose 
duties involve contact with prisoners, probationers, parolees or juvenile offenders and 
a person employed as the supervisor of such an employee; and 
B.  An employee of a county who is employed in a county jail and whose duties 
involve contact with prisoners or juvenile detainees and a person employed as the 
supervisor of such an employee. 
2.  Presumption.  There is a rebuttable presumption that a corrections employee who 
contracts hypertension or cardiovascular disease has a disease arising out of and in the 
course of employment, that sufficient notice of the disease has been given and that the 
disease was not occasioned by the willful intention of the corrections employee to cause 
the disease if the corrections employee complies with the requirements of subsection 3.  
3.  Required medical tests; preemployment physical.  In order to be entitled to the 
presumption set forth in subsection 2, a corrections employee, at the time of or during 
employment as a corrections employee and prior to diagnosis, must have undergone 
standard, medically acceptable tests for evidence of hypertension or cardiovascular 
disease or evidence of the medical conditions derived from the disease, which tests failed 
to indicate the presence of the disease. 
4.  Effect of presumption on disability retirement.  The presumption set forth in 
subsection 2 is effective for purposes of determining whether a disability is work-related 
for purposes of determining eligibility for disability retirement in the Maine Public 
Employees Retirement System. This presumption does not affect any eligibility 
requirement other than the requirement that the disability be work-related. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes a rebuttable presumption that if a corrections employee contracts 
hypertension or cardiovascular disease, the disease arises out of and in the course of 
employment.