An Act to Prohibit Profiling and to Strengthen Civil Rights in Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1613
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: TALBOT ROSS
Amends: 5 MRSA §4684-C, 5 MRSA §4751, 5 MRSA §4755, 5 MRSA §4753, 5 MRSA §4754

Legislative Document
No. 1613
H.P. 1038
House of Representatives, April 11, 2023
An Act to Prohibit Profiling and to Strengthen Civil Rights in Maine
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Speaker TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1.  5 MRSA §4684-C is enacted to read:
§4684-C.  Civil rights officers
1.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise indicates,  
the following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Civil rights officer" means a law enforcement officer who has received special 
training approved by the Attorney General in identifying and investigating civil rights 
violations.
B.  "Law enforcement agency" means an agency in the State charged with enforcement 
of state, county, municipal or federal laws or laws of a federally recognized Indian 
tribe, with the prevention, detection or investigation of criminal, immigration or 
customs laws or with managing custody of detained persons in the State and includes, 
but is not limited to, a municipal police department, a sheriff's department, the State 
Police, a university or college police department and the Department of Public Safety.  
C.  "Law enforcement officer" means a state, county or municipal official or an official 
of a federally recognized Indian tribe responsible for enforcing criminal, immigration 
or customs laws, including, but not limited to, a law enforcement officer who possesses 
a valid certificate issued by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice 
Academy pursuant to Title 25, section 2803-A.  
2.  Required civil rights officer.  A law enforcement agency shall select, assign and 
secure training for a civil rights officer, notify the Attorney General of the name and contact 
information for the civil rights officer and notify the Attorney General of any change in 
assignment of the civil rights officer as soon as practicable after the change is made.  The 
law enforcement agency shall make the contact information for the civil rights officer 
publicly available.
PART B
Sec. B-1.  5 MRSA c. 337-D, headnote is amended to read:
CHAPTER 337-D
PROFILING AND DATA COLLECTION
Sec. B-2.  5 MRSA §4751, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3.  Profiling.  "Profiling" means relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived race, 
gender, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender 
identity, color, physical or mental disability or national origin in targeting an individual for 
routine or spontaneous investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance 
of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except in the 
event the officer or agency is relying on trustworthy information that is relevant to the 
locality and time frame and that links a person with a particular characteristic described in 
this section to a specific criminal incident or scheme.
Sec. B-3.  5 MRSA §4755 is enacted to read:
§4755.  Profiling prohibited
In enforcing the laws of this State, a law enforcement officer or law enforcement 
agency may not engage in profiling.
PART C
Sec. C-1.  5 MRSA §4753, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 460, §1, is amended 
to read:
1.  Adoption of rules.  By January 1, 2023 2024, the Attorney General shall adopt 
rules for the recording, retention and reporting of information pursuant to section 4752 
pertaining to persons stopped for traffic infractions.  The information must include the 
characteristics of race, color, ethnicity, gender and age of the persons stopped, based on the 
observation and perception of the law enforcement officer making the stop.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in chapter 375, subchapter 
2‑A.
Sec. C-2.  5 MRSA §4754, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 460, §1, is amended to read:
§4754.  Report; publication of data
Beginning January 15, 2024 2025 and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall 
provide to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
judiciary matters and criminal justice and public safety matters and make available to the 
public a report of the information collected pursuant to this chapter.  The report must 
include an analysis of the information and may include recommendations for changes in 
laws, rules and practices.  Information reported may not include personally identifiable 
information.
Sec. C-3.  Retroactivity. This Part applies retroactively to December 31, 2023.
SUMMARY
In Part A, this bill requires law enforcement agencies to select, assign and train civil 
rights officers and to keep the Attorney General informed of the identity of the civil rights 
officer.  It requires law enforcement agencies to make contact information for their civil 
rights officers publicly available.  In Part B, the bill prohibits profiling by a law 
enforcement officer or agency based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic 
status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, physical or mental disability or 
national origin.  In Part C, the bill changes from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2024 the 
date by which the Attorney General must adopt rules for the recording, retention and 
reporting of information regarding traffic infractions and from January 15, 2024 to January 
15, 2025 the date by which the Attorney General must begin submitting the information to 
the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters 
and criminal justice and public safety matters.  It also makes the changes in Part C 
retroactive to December 31, 2023.