Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §402, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1999, c. 96, §§1 to 3, is further amended by amending the first paragraph to read:

3. Public records. The term "public records" means any report or written, printed or graphic matter or any mechanical or electronic data compilation from which information can be obtained, directly or after translation into a form susceptible of visual or aural comprehension, that is in the possession or custody of an agency or public official of this State or any of its political subdivisions, or is in the possession or custody of an association, the membership of which is composed exclusively of one or more of any of these entities, and has been received or prepared for use in connection with the transaction of public or governmental business or contains information relating to the transaction of public or governmental business, except:

Sec. 2. 1 MRSA §402, sub-§4 is enacted to read:

4.__Report.__"Report" includes any report or study commissioned in whole or in part by the State or any of its political subdivisions.

Sec. 3. 1 MRSA §405-D is enacted to read:

§405-D.__Reports commissioned by the State

A report must be reduced to writing and delivered to the State or the political subdivision that commissioned the report.

SUMMARY

This bill requires any report commissioned in whole or in part by the State or any of its political subdivisions to be reduced to writing and delivered to the State or political subdivision that commissioned the report. This bill also amends the definition of "public records" in freedom of access law to include reports.