An Act To Establish a Presumption of Heart Disease or Hypertension in the Line of Duty for Corrections Officers under the Workers' Compensation Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0614
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: TUCKER
Amends: 39-A MRSA §328-C

Legislative Document
No. 614
H.P. 430
House of Representatives, February 16, 2017
An Act To Establish a Presumption of Heart Disease or 
Hypertension in the Line of Duty for Corrections Officers under the 
Workers' Compensation Laws
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TUCKER of Brunswick.
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.  Heart disease or hypertension suffered by a corrections officer 
Heart disease or hypertension suffered by a corrections officer is governed by this 
section. 
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A.  "Corrections officer" means an employee of the State or of a county whose place 
of employment is a correctional facility as defined in Title 34-A, section 1001, 
subsection 6 or a county or regional jail under Title 30-A, chapter 13 and who is 
responsible for the care, custody or direct supervision of a person confined in a jail, 
prison or state correctional facility pursuant to an order of a court or as a result of an 
arrest. 
B.  "Heart disease" means a structural or functional abnormality of the heart, or of the 
blood vessels supplying the heart, that impairs the heart's normal functioning. 
C.  "Hypertension" means a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure in 
the arteries is elevated. 
2.  Presumption.  If a corrections officer who contracts heart disease or hypertension 
has met the requirements of subsections 3, 6 and 7, there is a rebuttable presumption that 
the corrections officer contracted the heart disease or hypertension in the course of 
employment as a corrections officer and as a result of that employment, that sufficient 
notice of the heart disease or hypertension has been given and that the heart disease or 
hypertension was not occasioned by any willful act of the corrections officer to cause the 
heart disease or hypertension. 
3.  Medical tests.  In order to be entitled to the presumption in subsection 2, during 
the time of employment as a corrections officer, the corrections officer must have 
undergone a standard, medically acceptable test for evidence of the heart disease or 
hypertension for which the presumption is sought or evidence of the medical conditions 
derived from the heart disease or hypertension, and that test did not indicate the presence 
or condition of heart disease or hypertension. 
4.  Liability if services performed for more than one employer.  If a corrections 
officer who contracts heart disease or hypertension was employed as a corrections officer 
by more than one employer and qualifies for the presumption under subsection 2, and that 
presumption has not been rebutted, the employer and insurer at the time of the last 
substantial exposure to the risk of the heart disease or hypertension are liable under this 
Part. 
5.  Retired corrections officer.  This section applies to a corrections officer who is 
diagnosed with heart disease or hypertension within 10 years of the corrections officer's 
last active employment as a corrections officer or prior to attaining 70 years of age, 
whichever occurs first. 
6.  Length of service.  In order to qualify for the presumption under subsection 2, the 
corrections officer must have been employed as a corrections officer for at least 5 years. 
7.  Written verification.  In order to qualify for the presumption under subsection 2, 
a corrections officer must sign a written affidavit declaring, to the best of the corrections 
officer's knowledge and belief, that the corrections officer's diagnosed heart disease or 
hypertension is not prevalent among the corrections officer's blood-related parents, 
grandparents or siblings and that the corrections officer has no substantial lifetime habits 
or personal activities that are associated with the corrections officer's diagnosed heart 
disease or hypertension. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the workers' compensation laws by adding a presumption that heart 
disease or hypertension suffered by a corrections officer was caused in the course of 
employment as a corrections officer, similar to the provisions presuming that cancer 
contracted by a firefighter was caused by exposure to carcinogens in the course of the 
firefighter's firefighting duties.