An Act to Require Standard Procedures to Protect Stalking Victims and Access to Certain Criminal Complaints
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1438
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: WARREN, RECKITT
Amends: 16 MRSA §804, 16 MRSA §805, 16 MRSA §805-A, 19-A MRSA §4116, 25 MRSA §2803-B, 29-A MRSA §2251

Legislative Document
No. 1438
H.P. 934
House of Representatives, March 30, 2023
An Act to Require Standard Procedures to Protect Stalking Victims 
and Access to Certain Criminal Complaints
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative WARREN of Scarborough.
Cosponsored by Representative: RECKITT of South Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  16 MRSA §804, first ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 507, §4, is further 
amended to read:
Except as provided in sections 805 805-A and 806, a record that is or contains 
intelligence and investigative record information is confidential and may not be 
disseminated by a Maine criminal justice agency to any person or public or private entity 
if there is a reasonable possibility that public release or inspection of the record would:
Sec. 2.  16 MRSA §805, as amended by PL 2013, c. 507, §5, is repealed.
Sec. 3.  16 MRSA §805-A is enacted to read:
§805-A.  Exceptions
1. Dissemination of certain information. This chapter does not preclude 
dissemination of intelligence and investigative record information that is confidential under 
section 804 by a Maine criminal justice agency to:
A.  Another criminal justice agency;
B.  A person or public or private entity as part of the criminal justice agency's 
administration of criminal justice or the administration of civil justice by the 
Department of the Attorney General or a district attorney's office;
C.  A person accused of a crime or that person's agent or attorney for trial and 
sentencing purposes if authorized by:
(1)  The responsible prosecutorial office or prosecutor; or
(2)  A court rule, court order or court decision of this State or of the United States.
As used in this subsection, "agent" means a licensed professional investigator, an 
expert witness or a parent, foster parent or guardian if the accused person has not 
attained 18 years of age;
D.  A federal court, the District Court, Superior Court or Supreme Judicial Court or an 
equivalent court in another state;
E.  A person or public or private entity expressly authorized to receive the intelligence 
and investigative record information by statute, executive order, court rule, court 
decision or court order.  "Express authorization" means language in the statute, 
executive order, court rule, court decision or court order that specifically speaks of 
intelligence and investigative record information or specifically refers to a type of 
intelligence or investigative record; or
F.  The Secretary of State for use in the determination and issuance of a driver's license 
suspension.
2. Record of complaint. On request to a Maine criminal justice agency under the 
Freedom of Access Act, a person is entitled to receive one copy of a complaint made by 
that person. The criminal justice agency may not charge a fee for a copy of a complaint 
provided under this subsection.
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §4116, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 647, Pt. A, §3 
and affected by Pt. B, §65, is amended to read:
A.  The incident report from a law enforcement agency submitted to the attorney for 
the State that is most relevant to the criminal proceeding, which the certified domestic 
violence intervention program is authorized to receive pursuant to Title 16, section 805, 
subsection 5 805-A, subsection 1, paragraph E; and
Sec. 5.  25 MRSA §2803-B, sub-§1, ¶D, as corrected by RR 2021, c. 2, Pt. A, §88, 
is amended by amending subparagraph (4) to read:
(4)  Standard procedures to ensure that protection from abuse orders issued under 
Title 19‑A, section 4108 or 4110 are served on the defendant as quickly as possible; 
and
Sec. 6.  25 MRSA §2803-B, sub-§1, ¶D, as corrected by RR 2021, c. 2, Pt. A, §88, 
is amended by amending subparagraph (5) to read:
(5)  A process for the administration of a validated, evidence-based domestic 
violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine Commission on Domestic 
and Sexual Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004‑I, subsection 74‑C, and 
approved by the Department of Public Safety and the conveyance of the results of 
that assessment to the bail commissioner, if appropriate, and the district attorney 
for the county in which the domestic violence occurred; and
Sec. 7.  25 MRSA §2803-B, sub-§1, ¶D, as corrected by RR 2021, c. 2, Pt. A, §88, 
is amended by enacting a new subparagraph (6) to read:
(6)  Standard procedures to ensure protection from stalkers;
Sec. 8.  29-A MRSA §2251, sub-§7-A, ¶B, as amended by PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. B, 
§24, is further amended to read:
B.  Except as provided in paragraph B‑1 and Title 16, section 805, subsection 6 805-A, 
subsection 1, paragraph F, the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police may 
not publicly disseminate personally identifying accident report data that are contained 
in an accident report database maintained, administered or contributed to by the Bureau 
of State Police.  Such data are not public records for the purposes of Title 1, chapter 
13.
SUMMARY
This bill creates a right that entitles a person who files a complaint with a criminal 
justice agency to receive one copy of that report at no charge. The bill requires all law 
enforcement agencies to adopt written policies regarding standard procedures to ensure 
protection from stalkers.