An Act To Amend the Freedom of Access Act
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1216
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CAREY, THOMAS, BEAULIEU, CROCKETT, EVANGELOS, HARVELL, PRIEST, HILL, KATZ, PATRICK
Amends: 1 MRSA §408-A, 1 MRSA §409

Legislative Document 
No. 1216 
H.P. 861 
House of Representatives, March 26, 2013 
An Act To Amend the Freedom of Access Act 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CAREY of Lewiston. 
Cosponsored by Senator THOMAS of Somerset and 
Representatives: BEAULIEU of Auburn, CROCKETT of Bethel, EVANGELOS of 
Friendship, HARVELL of Farmington, PRIEST of Brunswick, Senators: HILL of York, KATZ 
of Kennebec, PATRICK of Oxford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 662, §5, is amended 
to read: 
3.  Acknowledgment; clarification; time estimate; cost estimate.  The agency or 
official having custody or control of a public record shall acknowledge receipt of a 
request made according to this section within a reasonable period of time, and may 
request clarification concerning which public record or public records are being 
requested.  The agency or official shall provide a good faith, nonbinding estimate of the 
time within which the agency or official will comply with the request, as well as a cost 
estimate as provided in subsection 9.  The agency or official shall make a good faith 
effort to fully respond to the request within the estimated time.  The agency or official 
shall respond to each communication within 5 calendar days of the receipt of the 
communication. 
Sec. 2.  1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 662, §5, is amended 
to read: 
4.  Refusals; denials.  If a body or an agency or official having custody or control of 
any public record refuses permission to inspect or copy or abstract a public record, the 
body or agency or official shall provide written notice of the denial, stating the reason for 
the denial, within 5 working calendar days of the receipt of the request for inspection or 
copying.  Failure to comply with this subsection is considered failure to allow inspection 
or copying and is subject to appeal as provided in section 409. 
Sec. 3.  1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§8, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 662, §5, is 
amended to read: 
B.  The agency or official may charge a fee to cover the actual cost of searching for, 
retrieving and compiling the requested public record of not more than $15 per hour 
after the first hour of staff time per request. Compiling the public record includes 
reviewing and redacting confidential information.  The agency or official shall 
provide information describing the reasons for the costs, including the statute that 
identifies any confidential information that must be redacted. 
Sec. 4.  1 MRSA §409, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 559, Pt. A, §1 and c. 
662, §6, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
1.  Records.  Any person aggrieved by a refusal or denial to inspect or copy a record 
or the failure to allow the inspection or copying of a record under section 408-A may 
appeal the refusal, denial or failure within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the written 
notice of refusal, denial or failure to any Superior Court within the State as a trial de 
novo.  The agency or official shall file an answer within 14 calendar days.  If a court, 
after a trial de novo, determines such refusal, denial or failure was not for just and proper 
cause, the court shall enter an order for disclosure.  Appeals may be advanced on the 
docket and receive priority over other cases when the court determines that the interests 
of justice so require. 
Sec. 5.  1 MRSA §409, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 423, §1, is amended to 
read: 
4.  Attorney’s fees.  In an appeal under subsection 1 or 2, the court, in its discretion, 
may award reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses to the substantially 
prevailing plaintiff who appealed the refusal under subsection 1 or the illegal action under 
subsection 2 if the court determines that the refusal or illegal action was committed in bad 
faith.  Attorney’s fees and litigation costs may not be awarded to or against a federally 
recognized Indian tribe. 
This subsection applies to appeals under subsection 1 or 2 filed on or after January 1, 
2010. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Freedom of Access Act to require agencies and officials to 
respond within 5 calendar days to any communication about public records.  The 
response must include a good faith, nonbinding estimate of the cost to provide the 
records.  When estimating the cost, the agency or official must provide details of the 
costs, including the statutes governing the confidentiality of any information redacted 
from requested records. 
This bill provides that failure to provide a written denial or refusal is considered a 
failure to allow inspection or copying and is subject to an appeal to Superior Court. 
This bill gives the court discretion to award reasonable attorney's fees and litigation 
expenses to the substantially prevailing plaintiff without making a finding of bad faith.