An Act Regarding Dignity for Women in Correctional FaciHties
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1721
Committee Amendment CA_A_H824 (House)
Amends: 22 MRSA §4003, 30-A MRSA §1561-A, 30-A MRSA §1651, 34-A MRSA §1402, 34-A MRSA §3001-A, 34-A MRSA §3031, 34-A MRSA §3039, 34-A MRSA §3050, 34-A MRSA §3051

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1276, L.D. 1721, "An Act Regarding 
Dignity for Women in Correctional FaciHties" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4003, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. AA, §5 and 
amended by PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. CCCC, §7, is further amended to read: 
5, Report on children in .department's custody and children of incarcerated 
parents. Require the department to report monthly to the joint standing committees of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and health and 
human services matters, beginning in July 2000, on the status of children served by the 
Office of Child and Family Services. The report must include, at a minimum, information 
on the department's caseload case load, the location of the children in the department's 
custody and the number of cases of abuse and neglect that were not opened for assessment. 
This information must be identified by program and funding source. The report must also 
include information on the number of children in the department's custody known to have 
one or more incarcerated parents and information on the number of those children for whom 
the case goal is reunification. 
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §1561-A is enacted to read: 
§1561-A. Transportation offemale prisoners to and from medical appointments 
A county jail housing female prisoners shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable 
the presence of a female corrections officer during the transportation of a female prisoner 
to and from a medical appointment and shall ensure that the prisoner is afforded the greatest 
amount of privacy practicable during the appointment consistent with safety and security 
considerations. 
Sec. 3. 30-A MRSA §1651, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 482, Pt. A, §1, is 
amended to read: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT,~~" to H.P. 1276, L.D. 1721 
2. Appointment. The sheriff for each county shall appoint a board of -S- 1 visitors for 
each correctional facility under the sheriffs supervision. 
A. Members of the boards of visitors serve for terms of one year except that, of the 
initial appointments, 2 must be for terms of3 years, 2 must be for terms of2 years and 
one must be for a term of one year. 
B. Members of the boards of visitors are eligible for reappointment at the expiration 
of their terms. The boards of visitors must be representative of a broad range of 
professionals, family members and citizens interested in the well-being of prisoners, 
including representatives of advocacy groups for human and civil rights, medical and 
psychiatric professionals, persons who have served in corrections settings and other 
interested citizens. One member of each board of visitors must be a person with 
knowledge of issues related to the incarceration of women. One member of each board 
of visitors must be a woman who has been incarcerated in the State and who has prior 
child welfare experience with the Department of Health arid Human Services, Office 
of Child and Family Services. 
C. A member of the Legislature may not serve on a board of visitors. 
D. The sheriffs of2 or more counties, at their discretion, may appoint a joint board of 
visitors of & 1 or more members. 
Sec. 4. 34-A MRSA §1402, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2009, c. 1, Pt. S, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
5, Grievance procedures. The commissioner shall establish procedures for hearing 
grievances of clients. The commissioner shall establish a separate grievance process for 
addressing complaints by prisoners about their medical and mental health treatment as well 
as a separate grievance process for addressing complaints regarding compliance with the 
standards established pursuant to sections 1208, 1208-A and 1208-B. 
Sec. 5. 34-A MRSA §3001-A, sub-§1-A is enacted to read: 
1-A. Boards of visitors for women's services; membership. The Governor shall 
appoint boards of visitors for women's services to inspect correctional facilities housing 
female clients and, with regard to female clients, perform the duties assigned to boards of 
visitors appointed pursuant to subsection 1. Boards of visitors for women's services shall 
ensure that the incarceration of and services provided to female clients are designed to meet 
their gender identity needs and reflect best practices established for such incarceration and 
services. Boards of visitors for women's services are otherwise subject to the same 
requirements and responsibilities under this section as a board of visitors appointed 
pursuant to subsection 1, except that, in addition to the member described in subsection 1, 
paragraph D, a board of visitors for women's services must include one member who was 
formerly incarcerated in the custody of the department and who has prior child welfare 
experience with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family 
Services, one member who represents a health care provider that provides sexual and 
reproductive health care and education, one member who is a health care practitioner who 
provides sexual and reproductive health care and education to women and one member 
who has an understanding of or experience with domestic violence. 
Sec. 6. 34-A MRSA §3031, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2021, c. 263, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT'*' to H.P. 1276, L.D. 1721 
8. 
Visitation. 
A reasonable opportunity to visit with relatives and friends, in 
accordance with departmental policies and institutional procedures, except that the 
department may restrict or prohibit visits when the restriction or prohibition is necessary 
for the security of the institution. Departmental policies and institutional procedures must 
provide to a person in a • correctional facility or detention facility opportunities and 
conditions for visits with the child of the person that provide time together in settings that 
allow for as positive a parent-child interaction as practicably can be achieved while 
protecting the emotional and physical well-being of the child, as long as such visits are not 
prohibited by court order. prohibited by a department policy due to the child's being a 
victim of the person, contrary to the wishes of the child's other parent or guardian or 
inconsistent with the security of the institution; 
Sec, 7. 34-A MRSA §3039, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5. Billing. A correctional facility or detention facility may not bill an indigent client 
for future payment of services and medications. 
Sec. 8. 34-A MRSA §3050 is enacted to read: 
§3050, Report regarding juveniles in custody 
By February 1, 2023 and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public 
safety matters on the number of juveniles in the custody of the department as juvenile 
detainees or juvenile clients or under department supervision on probation whose parents 
or. primacy caregivers are known to the department to be in the custody of the department 
or under the supervision of the department. 
Sec. 9. 34-A MRSA §3051 is enacted to read: 
§3051. Transportation of female clients to and from medical appointments 
A correctional facility or detention facility housing female clients shall ensure to the 
greatest extent practicable the presence of a female corrections officer. during the 
transportation of a female client to and from a medical appointment and shall ensure that 
the client is afforded the greatest amount of privacy practicable during the appointment 
consistent with safety and security considerations. 
Sec. 10. Provision of contact information for Office of Child and Family 
Services required. The Department of Corrections shall adopt rules to provide any 
person residing in a correctional facility or detention facility in the State with the contact 
information for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family 
Services as well as information on the relevance of that contact to the family reunification 
provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 4041. Contact with the Office 
of Child and Family Services must be provided at no cost to the person. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 11. Publicly available information regarding persons incarcerated at 
county jails; report. The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child 
and Family Services shall evaluate options for obtaining publicly available information 
regarding persons incarcerated at county jail facilities and, by January 31, 2024, submit a 
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1276, L.D. 1721 
justice and public safety matters regarding its progress in obtaining that information and 
any findings or recommendations based on the information. After reviewing the report, the 
joint standing committee may report out legislation related to the report to the 131st 
Legislature in 2024.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. It removes from the bill the provision that requires the Department of Health and 
Human Services to report annually on the current number and case specifics of children 
served by the department's Office of Child and Family Services. It instead amends an 
existing legislative reporting requirement by that office regarding the status of children in 
.the department's custody to include in that report information on the number of children in 
the department's custody known to have one or more incarcerated parents and information 
on the number of those children for whom the case goal is reunification. 
2. It amends the provision of the bill that adds additional persons to the board of visitors 
of each county jail to clarify that one additional person must be a person who has prior 
child welfare experience with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of 
Child and Family Services. 
3. It amends the provision of the bill that establishes a board of visitors for women's 
services in certain correctional facilities to clarify for those boards the applicability of the 
general requirements and responsibilities of facility boards of visitors and to clarify the 
membership of boards of visitors for women's services. 
4. It amends the provision of the bill regarding child visitation policies and procedures 
in correctional facilities or detention facilities to specify the conditions under which such 
visits are not allowed. 
5. It amends the provision of the bill requiring a correctional facility or detention 
facility to ensure the presence of a female law enforcement officer during the transportation 
of a female prisoner to and from medical appointments by providing that a correctional 
facility or detention facility is required to ensure the presence of a female corrections officer 
to the greatest extent practicable. The amendment also adds a similar provision applicable 
to county jails. 
6. It adds a new provision requiring the Department of Health and Human Services, 
Office of Child and Family Services to evaluate options for obtaining publicly available 
information regarding persons incarcerated at county jail facilities and, by January 31, 
2024, submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over criminal justice and public safety matters regarding its progress in obtaining that 
information and any findings or recommendations based on the information. 
After 
reviewing the report, the joint standing committee may report out legislation related to the 
report to the 131st Legislature in 2024. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMI1TEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1276, L.D. 1721 
7. It makes other technical changes and corrections to the bill. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/11/22 ~ae 
LD 1721 
LR 1572(02) 
An Act Regarding Dignity for Women in Correctional Facilities 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment A• / H-J 1 ~ \ 
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety 
(JI 
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Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Any additional costs to the Departments of Health and Human Services and Corrections to implement the provisi01Y 
of this bill are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. Payments to member._ 
the board of visitors for women's services are expected to be minor and can also be absorbed within existing budgeted 
resources. 
LR1572(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1