An Act Regarding Public Records and Fees for Requesting Public
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0101
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsors: ROBERTS
Amends: 12 MRSA §10103, 12 MRSA §10110, 36 MRSA §1752

Legislative Document
No. 101
H.P. 66
House of Representatives, January 8, 2025
An Act Regarding Public Records and Fees for Requesting Public 
Records from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Submitted by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ROBERTS of South Berwick.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §10103, sub-§12, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by c. 614, §9, is repealed.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §10103, sub-§13 is enacted to read:
13.  Public records retention; fees for public records requests; confidentiality of 
e-mail addresses.  The following provisions govern the commissioner's duties in respect 
to the public records produced and maintained by the department.
A.  The commissioner shall comply with any program or guidance established and 
administered by the State Archivist pursuant to Title 5, section 95-C, subsection 2 in 
respect to management of department records, including guidance requiring the 
department to maintain a records retention schedule for all records the department 
creates, including, but not limited to, applications, licenses, registrations, permits, 
reports, summonses and warnings. The commissioner may collect and maintain other 
records and information related to other functions of the department, including the 
enforcement of civil violations.
B.  The commissioner shall collect and maintain criminal history record information 
related to violations of this Part.
C.  The commissioner shall provide access to public records maintained by the 
department in the same manner as required pursuant to Title 1, section 408-A unless 
an exemption established in paragraph D or E applies.
D.  Notwithstanding the fees established in Title 1, section 408-A, subsection 8, the 
department may charge a fee of $5 per record for providing individual copies of 
applications, licenses, registrations, permits and recreational vehicle crash reports 
maintained by the department when there is a request made to the department.
E.  Notwithstanding the fees established in Title 1, section 408-A, subsection 8, the 
department may charge to individuals, businesses and other entities that make a request 
to the department a fee of 3 cents per name or per record to provide a spreadsheet or 
list of records pertaining to applications, licenses, registrations, permits and 
recreational vehicle crash reports, except that requests made under this paragraph are 
subject to a minimum fee of $10 regardless of the number of names or records that are 
a part of the request.
F.  Fees charged pursuant to paragraphs D and E apply to electronic and paper copies 
of records, copies of records that are notarized and copies that are not notarized. Fees 
charged pursuant to paragraphs D and E are subject to sales tax in accordance with 
Title 36, section 1811.
G.  The commissioner shall allow an applicant for a hunting or fishing license to 
indicate that the applicant's e-mail address is confidential. If a person indicates that the 
person's e-mail address submitted as part of the application process for a hunting or 
fishing license is confidential as provided in this paragraph, that information is 
confidential. E-mail addresses designated as confidential under this paragraph are not 
confidential to department personnel or law enforcement officers or for purposes of 
court proceedings.
The department shall adopt rules to establish a fee schedule and procedures governing this 
subsection.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant 
to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §10110, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 185, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§11, ¶A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 437, §10, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:
(3)  A sale in the ordinary course of business by a retailer to a purchaser who is not 
engaged in selling that kind of tangible personal property or taxable service in the 
ordinary course of repeated and successive transactions of like character; and
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§11, ¶A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 437, §10, is 
further amended by enacting a new subparagraph (3-A) to read:
(3-A)  The delivery of records, spreadsheets or lists of records requested pursuant 
to Title 12, section 10103, subsection 13, paragraph D or E to a person requesting 
those records, spreadsheets or lists in exchange for the fees established pursuant to 
Title 12, section 10103, subsection 13, paragraph D or E; and
Sec. 6.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§14, ¶B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. H, 
§§14 to 18 and affected by §29 and amended by c. 673, §§14 to 18 and affected by §28, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (11) to read:
(11)  Any charge, deposit, fee or premium imposed by a law of this State, except 
for the fees established pursuant to Title 12, section 10103, subsection 13, 
paragraph D or E;
SUMMARY
This bill creates an exception from the provisions of the Freedom of Access Act that 
govern the fees that an agency may charge to a person requesting public records and allows 
the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to charge a separate fee of $5 per record 
for copies of applications, licenses, registrations, permits and recreational vehicle crash 
reports and 3 cents per name or per record, with a minimum charge of $10, for spreadsheets 
and lists of records related to applications, licenses, registrations, permits and recreational 
vehicle crash reports. These fees are subject to sales tax.  The bill modifies the provisions 
of tax law defining "retail sale" and "sales price" to facilitate applying a sales tax to these 
fees.
The bill also makes other changes to the laws governing the Department of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife to clarify and reorganize provisions related to public records 
maintained by the department.