An Act to Provide Regional Support Funding for Municipal Police
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1600
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: ANKELES
Amends: 30-A MRSA §911

Legislative Document
No. 1600
H.P. 1058
House of Representatives, April 10, 2025
An Act to Provide Regional Support Funding for Municipal Police 
Departments to Support Special Response Teams
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ANKELES of Brunswick.
Cosponsored by Representatives: CROCKETT of Portland, FAIRCLOTH of Bangor, 
MASTRACCIO of Sanford, MOONEN of Portland, MURPHY of Scarborough, ROEDER of 
Bangor, ROLLINS of Augusta.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §911 is enacted to read:
§911.  Special response teams
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.
B. "Fund" means the Special Response Team Fund established in subsection 3. 
C. "Special response team” means an elite tactical group of law enforcement officers 
certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy that rapidly responds to high-risk law 
enforcement operations and conducts criminal investigations that exceed the 
capabilities of standard law enforcement agencies and require specialized training, 
equipment and tactics.
2. County contribution to Special Response Team Fund. By March 1st of each year, 
a county shall contribute funds to the fund in an amount calculated in subsection 4.
3. Special Response Team Fund.  The Special Response Team Fund is established 
within the department as a revolving, nonlapsing fund administered by the department to 
fund special response teams. The fund is funded by county contributions under this section, 
appropriations, allocations and grants and donations from other public and private sources. 
The department shall make a disbursement from the fund in an amount determined under 
subsection 5 to a municipality that maintains and operates a special response team.
4. Contribution calculation. By February 1st of each year, the department shall collect 
an accounting from a municipality maintaining a special response team of the previous 
calendar year's expenses of the municipality to maintain and operate the special response 
team to determine a county's contribution required under subsection 2. If 2 or more 
municipalities collaborate to maintain and operate a single special response team, the 
department shall collect an accounting from each municipality in the collaboration of that 
municipality's expenses in maintaining and operating the special response team for the 
previous calendar year.  The department shall determine each county's annual contribution 
to the fund in an amount equal to a pro rata share based upon the county's population 
compared to the statewide population of the amount required to reimburse 10% of the total 
statewide municipal expenses to maintain and operate special response teams. The 
department shall provide each county with an accounting of the amount due for that county 
under this subsection and deposit funds collected under subsection 2 into the fund.
5. Disbursements from the fund. By April 1st of each year, the department shall make 
a disbursement from the fund to a municipality maintaining a special response team in an 
amount equal to 10% of the previous calendar year's expenses of the municipality to 
maintain and operate a special response team submitted to the department under subsection 
4. If 2 or more municipalities collaborate to maintain and operate a single special response 
team, the department shall reimburse each municipality an amount equal to 10% of the 
respective municipality's previous calendar year's expenses in maintaining and operating 
the special response team submitted to the department under subsection 4. If there are not 
enough funds in the fund to fully make the disbursements required under this subsection, 
the department shall disburse an amount to each municipality due a disbursement from the 
fund a proportionate share of that municipality's previous calendar year's expenses based 
upon the amount available in the fund to make disbursements.
6. Rules. The department shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules under Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill creates the Special Response Team Fund to reimburse municipalities that 
maintain and operate special response teams, which are elite tactical law enforcement teams 
certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy that rapidly respond to high-risk law 
enforcement operations and conduct criminal investigations that exceed the capabilities of 
standard law enforcement agencies and require specialized training, equipment and tactics. 
The bill requires each county to contribute annually a pro rata share based upon population 
of an amount equal to refund 10% of the previous calendar year's expenses that each 
municipality spent to maintain and operate a special response team.