An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Public Records Exceptions
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1221
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 10 MRSA §1107, 12 MRSA §550-B

Legislative Document
No. 1221
H.P. 896
House of Representatives, March 24, 2021
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Right To Know 
Advisory Committee Concerning Public Records Exceptions
Reported by Representative HARNETT of Gardiner for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, section 411, subsection 6, paragraph 
G.
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 22, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA §1107, first ¶, as amended by PL 1991, c. 137, §4, is further 
amended to read:
The Attorney General upon the Attorney General's own initiative or upon petition of 
or more citizens of this State, shall investigate all seeming violations of sections 1102-A 
and 1105 to 1107, all contracts, combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade or 
commerce, and all monopolies, and may require, by summons, the attendance and 
testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers before the Attorney General 
relating to any such matter under investigation.  The summons must be served in the same 
manner as summons for witnesses in criminal cases, and all provisions of law relating 
thereto apply to summonses issued under this section so far as they are applicable.  All 
investigations or hearings thereunder or connected therewith to which witnesses are 
summoned or called upon to testify or to produce books, records or correspondence are 
public or private at the choice of the person summoned confidential and must be held in 
the county where the act to be investigated is alleged to have been committed, or if the 
investigation is on petition it must be held in the county in which the petitioners reside.  
Books, records or correspondence produced in response to a summons issued under this 
section may be disclosed by the Attorney General with the consent of the producing party 
and in court pleadings or other papers filed in court.  The expense of such investigation 
must be paid from the appropriation provided by Title 5, section 203.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §550-B, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. C, §7, is 
further amended to read:
6.  Information use.  Information collected by the Division of Geology, Natural Areas 
and Coastal Resources, Maine Geological Survey under this section is subject to Title 1, 
chapter 13, subchapter 1, unless the well drilling company to whom the information 
belongs or pertains requests that it be designated as confidential and the bureau has 
determined it contains proprietary information. For the purposes of this subsection, 
"proprietary information" means information that is a trade secret or production, 
commercial or financial information the disclosure of which would impair the competitive 
position of the person submitting the information and would make available information 
not otherwise publicly available.  The Division of Geology, Natural Areas and Coastal 
Resources, Maine Geological Survey shall make information collected under this chapter 
available to any federal, state or municipal entity or authorized agent of such entity.
SUMMARY
This bill implements statutory changes recommended by the Right To Know Advisory 
Committee after reviewing certain existing public records exceptions in the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Titles 8 to 12. 
The bill amends a provision relating to books, records or correspondence produced in 
response to a summons in an antitrust investigation.  It makes the language consistent with 
how other exceptions refer to documents that are not subject to disclosure and clarifies that 
the confidentiality of the records is not tethered to an affirmative option of the person 
providing the records.  It further clarifies that books, records or correspondence produced 
in response to a summons may be disclosed by the Attorney General with the consent of 
the producing party and in court pleadings or other papers filed in court.
The bill amends a provision relating to water well information collected by the 
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Geology, Natural Areas 
and Coastal Resources, Maine Geological Survey.  It removes the exception designating as 
confidential information collected by the Maine Geological Survey at the request of well 
drilling companies to whom the information pertains if the division has determined it 
contains proprietary information.