HP1263, LD 1821, item 1, An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Freedom of Access Training for Public Officials

An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee Concerning Freedom of Access Training for Public Officials

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §412, as amended by PL 2011, c. 662, §7, is further amended to read:

§ 412. Public records and proceedings training for certain officials and public access officers

1. Training required. A public access officer and an elected 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 or public access officer shall complete the training not later than the 120th day after the date the elected official takes the oath of office to assume the person's duties as an elected official 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 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 elected official 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.

3. Certification of completion. Upon completion of the training course required under subsection 1, the elected official 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 elected official shall keep the record or file it with the public entity to which the official 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 elected and appointed 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, clerks, treasurers, assessors and budget committee members of municipal governments;

G. Officials 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 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.

SUMMARY

Current law requires officials elected to certain positions to complete training on the requirements of the Freedom of Access Act but does not require officials appointed to those positions to complete that training. This bill implements the recommendation of the Right To Know Advisory Committee that appointed officials also be required to complete the training.

HP1263 LD 1821	Session - 128th Maine Legislature		LR 2889 Item 1
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