An Act To Prohibit the Use of "No-knock" Warrants
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1127
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: ROEDER, DUNPHY, GRAMLICH, LOOKNER, OSHER, SUPICA, TALBOT ROSS, WARREN
Amends: 15 MRSA §57

Legislative Document
No. 1127
H.P. 805
House of Representatives, March 22, 2021
An Act To Prohibit the Use of "No-knock" Warrants
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 18, 2021.  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 ROEDER of Bangor.
Cosponsored by Representatives: DUNPHY of Old Town, GRAMLICH of Old Orchard 
Beach, LOOKNER of Portland, OSHER of Orono, SUPICA of Bangor, TALBOT ROSS of 
Portland, WARREN of Hallowell.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §57 is enacted to read:
§57.  Prohibition against execution or support of no-knock warrants
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Employee" means a person employed by the State or a political subdivision of the 
State that receives public funds.
B.  "Law enforcement officer" has the same meaning as in Title 25, section 2801-A, 
subsection 5.
C.  "No-knock warrant" means a warrant that allows the person executing the warrant 
to enter the premises that are the subject of the warrant without first announcing the 
authority for the execution of the warrant and the purpose for which the warrant was 
issued.
2.  Prohibition against no-knock warrants.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to 
the contrary, a state, county or local law enforcement officer or an employee may not 
execute a warrant by forcibly entering the location that is the subject of the warrant until 
after that law enforcement officer or employee provides notice of the authority to execute 
the warrant and the purpose for which the warrant was issued.
3.  Prohibition against providing support for execution of federal no-knock 
warrants.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a state, county or local 
law enforcement officer or an employee may not participate in or provide material support 
for the execution of a no-knock warrant issued by a federal agency or court.  A political 
subdivision of this State may not adopt a rule, ordinance, order or policy in violation of this 
subsection.
4.  Penalty.  The following penalties apply to a violation of this section.
A.  A law enforcement officer or employee who violates this section commits a Class 
E crime and, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, must be sentenced 
to 6 months in a correctional facility.  Upon conviction, a law enforcement officer who 
violates this section must also be prohibited from being employed as a law enforcement 
officer.
B.  A political subdivision of this State that violates this section may not receive any 
state funds for the fiscal year in which a final judicial determination is made that the 
political subdivision intentionally violated this section.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the use of no-knock warrants, which are warrants that allow the 
executing authority to forcibly enter a location that is the subject of a search warrant 
without first announcing the authority to execute the warrant and the purpose for which the 
warrant was issued.  This prohibition applies to law enforcement officers and any employee 
of the State or a political subdivision of the State.
This bill also prohibits a law enforcement officer or an employee of the State or a 
political subdivision of the State from participating in or providing material support for the 
execution of a federal no-knock warrant.  A political subdivision of the State is prohibited 
from adopting a rule, ordinance, order or policy that allows the execution of no-knock 
warrants.
A law enforcement officer who violates the prohibition against no-knock warrants 
commits a Class E crime and is subject to a mandatory sentence of 6 months in a 
correctional facility.  A political subdivision that violates the prohibition against the use or 
support of no-knock warrants is subject to a loss of state funding for the entire fiscal year 
in which the political subdivision is determined to have intentionally committed the 
violation.