An Act To Enhance the Ability of the State To Prosecute the Crime of Operating Under the Influence
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1676
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: McLEAN
Amends: 29-A MRSA §2431, 29-A MRSA §2524, 29-A MRSA §2528

Legislative Document
No. 1676
H.P. 1200
House of Representatives, May 2, 2019
An Act To Enhance the Ability of the State To Prosecute the Crime 
of Operating Under the Influence
Submitted by the Department of Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative McLEAN of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §2431, sub-§2, ¶A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §3, is 
further amended to read:
A.  A person laboratory certified or licensed in accordance with section 2524 
conducting a chemical analysis of blood, breath or urine to determine an alcohol level 
or the presence of a drug or drug metabolite may issue a certificate stating the results 
of the analysis.
Sec. 2.  29-A MRSA §2431, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §3, is 
further amended to read:
C.  A certificate issued in accordance with paragraph A or B, when duly signed and 
sworn, is prima facie evidence that:
(1)  The person taking the specimen was authorized to do so;
(2)  Materials used in the taking of the specimen were of a quality appropriate for 
the purpose of producing reliable test results as determined by the Department of 
Health and Human Services;
(3)  Materials required to be approved by the Department of Health and Human 
Services were in fact approved;
(4)  The sample tested was in fact the same sample taken from the defendant; and
(5)  The alcohol level or the presence of a drug or drug metabolite in the blood or 
urine of the defendant at the time the sample was taken was as stated in the 
certificate.
Sec. 3.  29-A MRSA §2524, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A.  Liability.  A physician, physician's assistant, registered nurse, person whose 
occupational license or training allows that person to draw blood, hospital or other health 
care provider in the exercise of due care is not liable for an act done or omitted in 
collecting or withdrawing specimens of blood at the request of a law enforcement officer 
pursuant to this chapter.
Sec. 4.  29-A MRSA §2524, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §11, is 
further amended to read:
2. Laboratories qualified to analyze blood for blood tests.  A person laboratory
conducting an analysis of blood-alcohol level or the presence of a drug or drug metabolite 
must either be certified by the Department of Health and Human Services or be licensed 
to do so under the laws of this State or any other state and also certified by the United 
States Department of Health and Human Services under the federal Clinical Laboratory 
Improvement Amendments of 1988, 42 United States Code, Section 263a (2018).
Sec. 5.  29-A MRSA §2524, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §11, is 
further amended to read:
4. Chemical tests on blood and urine specimens.  A sample specimen of blood or
urine may be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services or to a person 
certified by the Department of Health and Human Services laboratory qualified pursuant 
to subsection 2 for the purpose of conducting chemical tests to determine alcohol level or 
the presence of a drug or drug metabolite.
Sec. 6.  29-A MRSA §2524, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §11, is 
further amended to read:
5. Equipment for taking specimens.  For purposes of this section, only collection
kits having a stamp of approval affixed by the Department of Health and Human Services 
may be used to take a sample specimen of blood or urine, except that.  A sample 
specimen of blood or urine may also be taken in any collection tube of the type normally 
used in a laboratory qualified pursuant to subsection 2.  The fact that a laboratory 
qualified pursuant to subsection 2 supplied the collection tube is prima facie evidence that 
the collection tube is the type of tube normally used in such a laboratory.  Alternatively, a 
self-contained, breath-alcohol testing apparatus if reasonably available may be used to 
determine the alcohol level.
Approved breath-alcohol testing apparatus must have a stamp of approval affixed by the 
Department of Health and Human Services after periodic testing.  That stamp is valid for 
no more than one year.
Sec. 7.  29-A MRSA §2524, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by Pt. B, §5 and amended by PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to 
read:
6. Procedures for operation and testing of testing apparatus.  The Department of
Health and Human Services shall establish, by rule, the procedures for the operation and 
testing of testing apparatus used in laboratories certified by the Department of Health and 
Human Services.
Sec. 8.  29-A MRSA §2528, as amended by PL 2013, c. 459, §12, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing the testing of breath, blood and urine samples for 
the presence of alcohol and drugs by:
1. Allowing such testing to occur at a laboratory licensed to do so under the laws of
this State or any other state and also certified by the Federal Government under federal 
law;
2.
Allowing, for the taking of blood and urine samples, the use of specimen
collection tubes of the type normally used in such a laboratory; and
3. Changing the allocation in the statutes of a provision of law governing the liability
of persons who draw blood at the request of a law enforcement officer.