An Act To Improve Prisoner Transport Safety by Specifically Authorizing Transport of Prisoners by Transport Officers
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1890
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: FARNSWORTH, SANBORN, BRENNAN, CRAVEN, INGWERSEN, KESCHL, NADEAU, PEBWORTH, CHIPMAN
Amends: 14 MRSA §5545

Legislative Document
No. 1890
H.P. 1356
House of Representatives, December 24, 2019
An Act To Improve Prisoner Transport Safety by Specifically 
Authorizing Transport of Prisoners by Transport Officers
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 20, 2019.  Referred to the Committee on 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FARNSWORTH of Portland.
Cosponsored by Senator SANBORN, H. of Cumberland and
Representatives: BRENNAN of Portland, CRAVEN of Lewiston, INGWERSEN of Arundel, 
KESCHL of Belgrade, McCREA of Fort Fairfield, NADEAU of Winslow, PEBWORTH of 
Blue Hill, Senator: CHIPMAN of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §5545, as amended by PL 2015, c. 335, §5, is further amended 
to read:
§5545.  Habeas corpus for prisoner as witness
A court may issue a writ of habeas corpus, when necessary, to bring before it a 
prisoner for trial in a cause pending in such court, or to testify as a witness when his the 
prisoner's personal attendance is deemed determined necessary for the attainment of 
justice. 
Whenever, under this section or under any other section in this chapter, a court issues 
a writ of habeas corpus ordering before it a prisoner confined in any penal or correctional 
institution under the control of the Department of Corrections, or confined in any county 
jail, its order as to the transportation of the prisoner to and from the court must be 
directed to the sheriff of the county in which the court is located.  It is the responsibility 
of the sheriff or any one or more of the sheriff's authorized deputies or transport officers 
pursuant to any such order to safely transport a prisoner to and from the court and to 
provide safe and secure custody of the prisoner during the proceedings, as directed by the 
court.  At the time of removal of a prisoner from an institution, the transporting officer 
shall leave with the head of the institution an attested copy of the order of the court, and 
upon return of the prisoner shall note that return on the copy.  
Any prisoner who escapes from custody of the sheriff or any of his the sheriff's 
deputies, transport officers or any other law enforcement officer following removal for 
appearance in court, from a penal or correctional institution or from a county jail, and 
prior to return thereto, shall be is chargeable with escape from the penal or correctional 
institution or county jail from which he the prisoner was removed, and shall must be 
punished in accordance with Title 17-A, section 755.
For purposes of this section, "transport officer" has the same meaning as in Title 25, 
section 2801-A, subsection 8.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the civil procedure laws governing the transporting of prisoners to 
specifically authorize the transport of a prisoner by transport officers when a court has 
issued a writ of habeas corpus requiring that prisoner to be brought before the court.