An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee To Create a Remedy for Unduly Burdensome and Oppressive Requests
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1086
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 1 MRSA §408-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1086 
H.P. 747 
House of Representatives, March 25, 2015 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know 
Advisory Committee To Create a Remedy for Unduly Burdensome 
and Oppressive Requests 
Reported by Representative HOBBINS of Saco for the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 411, subsection 6, paragraph G. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 218. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2013, c. 350, §2, is further 
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 days of the receipt of the request for inspection or copying.  
A request for inspection or copying may be denied, in whole or in part, on the basis that 
the request is unduly burdensome or oppressive if the procedures established in 
subsection 4-A are followed.  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. 2.  1 MRSA §408-A, sub-§4-A is enacted to read: 
4-A.  Action for protection.  A body, an agency or official may seek protection from 
a request for inspection or copying that is unduly burdensome or oppressive by filing an 
action for an order of protection in the Superior Court for the county where the request 
for records was made within 30 days of receipt of the request. 
A.  The following information must be included in the complaint if available or 
provided to the parties and filed with the court no more than 14 days from the filing 
of the complaint or such other period as the court may order: 
(1)  The terms of the request and any modifications agreed to by the requesting 
party; 
(2)  A statement of the facts that demonstrate the burdensome or oppressive 
nature of the request, with a good faith estimate of the time required to search for, 
retrieve, redact if necessary and compile the records responsive to the request and 
the resulting costs calculated in accordance with subsection 8; and 
(3)  A description of the efforts made by the body, agency or official to inform 
the requesting party of the good faith estimate of costs and to discuss possible 
modifications of the request that would reduce the burden of production. 
B.  Any appeal that may be filed by the requesting party under section 409 may be 
consolidated with an action under this subsection. 
C.  An action for protection may be advanced on the docket and receive priority over 
other cases when the court determines that the interests of justice so require upon the 
request of any party. 
D.  If the court finds that the body, agency or official has demonstrated good cause to 
limit or deny the request, the court shall enter an order making such findings and 
establishing the terms upon which production, if any, must be made.  If the court 
finds that the body, agency or official has not demonstrated good cause to limit or 
deny the request, the court shall establish a date by which the records must be 
provided to the requesting party. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Freedom of Access Act to authorize a body, agency or official to 
deny a request for inspection or copying of public records, in whole or in part, on the 
basis that the request is unduly burdensome or oppressive.  The bill requires that the 
body, agency or official seek protection from an unduly burdensome or oppressive 
request by filing an action in Superior Court within 30 days of receipt of the request.  
This bill adopts a good cause standard to be used by the court in determining whether the 
request may be limited or denied as unduly burdensome or oppressive.