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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
H.P. 1214 - L.D. 1813
An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Right to Know Advisory
Committee Concerning State Boards and Commissions
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §412, as amended by PL 2021, c. 313, §§5 to 7, is further amended
to read:
§412. Public records and proceedings training for certain officials, board members
and public access officers
1. Training required. A public access officer, a board member and an official subject
to this section shall complete a course of training on the requirements of this chapter
relating to public records and proceedings. The official, board member or public access
officer shall complete the training not later than the 120th day after the date the official or
board member assumes the person's duties as an official or board member or the person is
designated as a public access officer pursuant to section 413, subsection 1.
2. Training course; minimum requirements. The training course under subsection
1 must be designed to be completed by an official, a board member or a public access
officer in less than 2 hours. At a minimum, the training must include instruction in:
A. The general legal requirements of this chapter regarding public records and public
proceedings;
B. Procedures and requirements regarding complying with a request for a public record
under this chapter; and
C. Penalties and other consequences for failure to comply with this chapter.
An official, a board member or a public access officer meets the training requirements of
this section by conducting a thorough review of all the information made available by the
State on a publicly accessible website pursuant to section 411, subsection 6, paragraph C
regarding specific guidance on how a member of the public can use the law to be a better
informed and active participant in open government. To meet the requirements of this
subsection, any other training course must include all of this information and may include
additional information.
LAW WITHOUT
GOVERNOR'S
SIGNATURE
JUNE 8, 2025
CHAPTER
187
PUBLIC LAW
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3. Certification of completion. Upon completion of the training course required
under subsection 1, the official, board member or public access officer shall make a written
or an electronic record attesting to the fact that the training has been completed. The record
must identify the training completed and the date of completion. The official or board
member shall keep the record or file it with the public entity to which the official or board
member was elected or appointed. A public access officer shall file the record with the
agency or official that designated the public access officer.
4. Application. This section applies to a public access officer and the following
officials:
A. The Governor;
B. The Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer of State and State Auditor;
C. Members of the Legislature elected after November 1, 2008;
E. Commissioners, treasurers, district attorneys, sheriffs, registers of deeds, registers
of probate and budget committee members of county governments;
F. Municipal officers; municipal clerks, treasurers, managers or administrators,
assessors and code enforcement officers and deputies for those positions; and planning
board members and budget committee members of municipal governments;
G. Superintendents, assistant superintendents and school board members of school
administrative units; and
H. Officials of a regional or other political subdivision who, as part of the duties of
their offices, exercise executive or legislative powers. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "regional or other political subdivision" means an administrative entity or
instrumentality created pursuant to Title 30‑A, chapter 115 or chapter 119 or a quasi-
municipal corporation or special purpose district, including, but not limited to, a water
district, sanitary district, hospital district, school district of any type, transit district as
defined in Title 30‑A, section 3501, subsection 1 or regional transportation corporation
as defined in Title 30‑A, section 3501, subsection 2.; and
I. Members of a board or commission established under Title 5, chapter 379, referred
to in this section as "board members."
Sec. 2. 1 MRSA §413, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2015, c. 317, §2, is further
amended to read:
1. Designation; responsibility. Each agency, county, municipality, board or
commission established under Title 5, chapter 379, school administrative unit and regional
or other political subdivision shall designate an existing employee as its public access
officer to serve as the contact person for that agency, county, municipality, board or
commission, school administrative unit or regional or other political subdivision with
regard to requests for public records under this subchapter. The public access officer is
responsible for ensuring that each public record request is acknowledged within 5 working
days of the receipt of the request by the office responsible for maintaining the public record
requested and that a good faith estimate of when the response to the request will be
complete is provided according to section 408‑A. The public access officer shall serve as
a resource within the agency, county, municipality, board or commission, school
administrative unit and regional or other political subdivision concerning freedom of access
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questions and compliance. The public access officer may serve as the contact person for
more than one board or commission if the boards or commissions are within the same office
or agency.
Sec. 3. 1 MRSA §413, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 662, §8, is amended to
read:
2. Acknowledgment and response required. An agency, county, municipality, board
or commission established under Title 5, chapter 379, school administrative unit and
regional or other political subdivision that receives a request to inspect or copy a public
record shall acknowledge and respond to the request regardless of whether the request was
delivered to or directed to the public access officer.