Previous PageTable Of ContentsNext Page

PUBLIC LAWS OF MAINE
Second Special Session of the 121st

PART C

     Sec. C-1. 19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§6-A, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 665, §4, is amended to read:

     Sec. C-2. 30-A MRSA §288, last ¶, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6, c. 9, §2 and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

     Therefore district attorneys, their assistants and employees and other law enforcement officials shall refrain from any unnecessary pretrial public disclosure of information that may identify a minor victim of an offense under Title 17, chapter 93-B, Title 17-A, chapter 11 or 12 or Title 17-A, section 556.

     Sec. C-3. 30-A MRSA §289, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6, c. 9, §2 and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

     Unless a written agreement exists between a law enforcement agency and a district attorney concerning primary responsibility for investigating any of the following offenses, the district attorney may direct the investigation of any offense under Title 17, chapter 93-B, and Title 17-A, chapter 11 or 12, or Title 17-A, sections 207, 208 and 556, when a victim may not have attained his the victim's 18th birthday, and may designate, by geographical boundaries or otherwise, a particular law enforcement agency to have primary responsibility for that investigation.

     Sec. C-4. 34-A MRSA §11201, as amended by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §6, is further amended to read:

§11201. Short title

     This chapter may be known and cited as the "Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999." The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public from potentially dangerous sex offenders and sexually violent predators registrants by enhancing access to information concerning sex offenders and sexually violent predators those registrants.

     Sec. C-5. 34-A MRSA §11202, as amended by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §7, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§11202. Application

     This chapter applies to a person defined as a 10-year registrant or lifetime registrant who has been sentenced on or after June 30, 1992.

     Sec. C-6. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§§1-A and 1-B, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §8, are amended to read:

     1-A. Conditional release. "Conditional release" means supervised release of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant from institutional confinement for placement on probation, parole, intensive supervision, supervised community confinement, home release monitoring or release under Title 15, section 104-A or Title 17-A, chapter 50.

     1-B. Discharge. "Discharge" means unconditional release and discharge of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant from institutional confinement upon the expiration of a sentence or upon discharge under Title 15, section 104-A.

     Sec. C-7. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§§1-C and 3-A are enacted to read:

     1-C. Another state. "Another state" means each of the several states except Maine, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

     3-A. Jurisdiction. "Jurisdiction" means the Federal Government, including the military, this State or another state or tribe.

     Sec. C-8. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 437, §2, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

     2. Domicile. "Domicile" means the place where a person has that person's established, fixed, permanent or ordinary dwelling place or legal residence to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning. A person may have more than one residence but only one domicile.

     Sec. C-9. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 437, §2, is amended to read:

     4. Law enforcement agency having jurisdiction. "Law enforcement agency having jurisdiction" means the chief of police in the municipality where a sex offender registrant expects to be or is domiciled. If the municipality does not have a chief of police, "law enforcement agency having jurisdiction" means the sheriff of the county were where the municipality is located. "Law enforcement agency having jurisdiction" also means the sheriff of the county in an unorganized territory.

     Sec. C-10. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§4-A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §8, is amended to read:

     4-A. Risk assessment instrument. "Risk assessment instrument" means an instrument created and modified as necessary by reviewing and analyzing precursors to a sex offense, victim populations of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant, living conditions and environment of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant and other factors predisposing a person to become a sex offender, repeat sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant, for the ongoing purpose of identifying risk factors used to provide notification of a sex offender's or sexually violent predator's registrant's conditional release or discharge from a state correctional facility to law enforcement agencies and to the public.

     Sec. C-11. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§§ 4-C and 4-D are enacted to read:

     4-C. Registrant. "Registrant" means a 10-year registrant or a lifetime registrant or, when appropriate, both a 10-year registrant and a lifetime registrant.

     4-D. Residence. "Residence" means that place or those places, other than a domicile, in which a person may spend time living, residing or dwelling.

     Sec. C-12. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2003, c. 371, §1, is further amended to read:

     5. Ten-year registrant. "Sex offender Ten-year registrant" means a person who is an adult convicted and sentenced or a juvenile convicted and sentenced as an adult of a sex offense.

     Sec. C-13. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§6, ¶B, as amended by PL 2001, c. 383, §153 and affected by §156 and amended by c. 439, Pt. OOO, §9, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

     Sec. C-14. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§7, ¶A, as amended by PL 2001, c. 553, §3 and affected by §10, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

     Sec. C-15. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2003, c. 371, §3, is further amended to read:

     8. Lifetime registrant. "Sexually violent predator Lifetime registrant" means a person who is an adult convicted and sentenced or a juvenile convicted and sentenced as an adult of a:

     Sec. C-16. 34-A MRSA §11203, sub-§9 is enacted to read:

     9. Tribe. "Tribe" means the Passamaquoddy Tribe or the Penobscot Nation.

     Sec. C-17. 34-A MRSA §11221, sub-§1, ¶¶A and F, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 437, §2, are amended to read:

     Sec. C-18. 34-A MRSA §11221, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 437, §2, is amended to read:

     2. National or regional registry. The bureau is authorized to make the registry available to and accept files from a national or regional registry of sex offenders registrants for the purpose of sharing information.

     Sec. C-19. 34-A MRSA §11221, sub-§6, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, c. 371, §6, is amended to read:

     6. Distribution of information to department and law enforcement agencies. The bureau shall distribute information described in subsection 1 to the department and law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction over the address and location of the sex offender's or sexually violent predator's registrant's domicile, place of employment and college or school being attended.

     Sec. C-20. 34-A MRSA §11221, sub-§§9 and 10, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 371, §7, are amended to read:

     9. Public access to information. The bureau shall provide information to the public as follows.

     10. Registrant access to information. Pursuant to Title 16, section 620, the bureau shall provide all information described in subsection 1 to a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant who requests that person's own information.

     Sec. C-21. 34-A MRSA §11222, as amended by PL 2003, c. 371, §§8 to 10, is further amended to read:

§11222. Duty of registrant

     1. Determination by court. The court shall determine at the time of sentencing if a defendant is a sex offender 10-year registrant or a sexually violent predator lifetime registrant. A person who the court determines is a sex offender 10-year registrant or a sexually violent predator lifetime registrant shall register according to this subchapter.

     1-A. When duty to register must be exercised. Following determination by the court under subsection 1, a sex offender or a sexually violent predator registrant shall register as follows.

     1-B. Duty to notify law enforcement agency. A registrant who has a duty to register pursuant to this subchapter shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in those areas where the registrant resides, works or attends school within 24 hours of becoming a resident or beginning work or attending school. If the location is a municipality with an organized municipal police department, the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction is the municipal police department. If the location is a school having an organized police department, the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction is the campus police department. If the location is neither a municipality nor a school with an organized police department, the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction is the sheriff's department.

     2. Responsibility of ensuring initial registration. The department, the county jail or the state mental health institute that has custody of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant required to register under this subchapter shall inform the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant, prior to discharge or conditional release, of the duty to register. If a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant does not serve a period of institutional confinement, the court shall inform the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant at the time of sentencing of the duty to register. The department, county jail, state mental health institute or court shall:

     2-A. Duty of registrant sentenced from June 30, 1992 to September 17, 1999 to register. Notwithstanding subsection 1 and except as provided in subsection 2-B, a person coming within the definition of a 10-year registrant or lifetime registrant who has been sentenced on or after June 30, 1992 but before September 18, 1999 for a sex offense or a sexually violent offense shall register either as a sex offender 10-year registrant or as a sexually violent predator lifetime registrant, whichever is applicable, with the bureau by September 1, 2002 if the duty to register has been triggered under subsection 1-A, paragraph A, B or C, unless sooner notified in writing of a duty to register under subsection 1-A, paragraph A, B or C by the bureau, the department or a law enforcement officer, in which case the person shall register with the bureau within 10 5 days of notice.

     2-B. Duty to register for new crimes. For a person otherwise subject to subsection 2-A who has been sentenced for a crime added by an amendment to the definition of sex offense or sexually violent offense in section 11203 since September 1, 2002, if the duty to register has been triggered under subsection 1-A, paragraph A, B or C, that person shall register as a 10-year registrant or a lifetime registrant, whichever is applicable, with the bureau by June 1, 2005, unless sooner notified in writing of a duty to register under subsection 1-A, paragraph A, B or C by the bureau, the department or a law enforcement officer, in which case the person shall register with the bureau within 5 days of notice.

     3. Transfer of initial registration information to bureau and FBI. The department, county jail, state mental health institute or court within 3 days of receipt of the information described in subsection 2 shall forward the information to the bureau. If the court orders the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant to submit to the taking of fingerprints and a photograph at a specified law enforcement agency, the law enforcement agency shall submit the fingerprints and photograph to the bureau within 3 days. The bureau shall immediately enter the information into the registration system, notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant expects to be domiciled and transmit the information to the FBI for inclusion in the national FBI sex offender database.

     4. Verification. During the period a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant is required to register, the bureau shall verify a sex offender's or sexually violent predator's registrant's domicile. The bureau shall verify the domicile of a sex offender 10-year registrant on each anniversary of the sex offender's 10-year registrant's initial registration date and shall verify a sexually violent predator's lifetime registrant's domicile every 90 days after that sexually violent predator's lifetime registrant's initial registration date. Verification of the domicile of a sex offender 10-year registrant or sexually violent predator lifetime registrant occurs as set out in this subsection.

     5. Change of domicile, residence, place of employment or college or school being attended. A sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant shall notify the bureau in writing of a change of residence, domicile, place of employment or college or school being attended within 10 5 days and shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction within 24 hours after that change changing that domicile, residence, place of employment or college or school being attended.

     For purposes of registration requirements pursuant to this subchapter, convictions that result from or are connected with the same act or result from offenses committed at the same time are considered as one conviction.

     Sec. C-22. 34-A MRSA §§11223 and 11224, as amended by PL 2003, c. 371, §11, are further amended to read:

§11223.       Duty of person establishing domicile to register

     A person required under another jurisdiction to register pursuant to that jurisdiction's sex offender registration statute or, if not so required, who is has been convicted and sentenced for an offense that includes the essential elements of a sex offense or sexually violent offense that would require registration in this State shall register as a sex offender 10-year registrant or sexually violent predator lifetime registrant, whichever is applicable, within 10 5 days and shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction with 24 hours of establishing domicile in this State. The person shall contact the bureau, which shall provide the person with the registration form and direct the person to take the form and a photograph of the person to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction. The law enforcement agency shall supervise the completion of the form, take the person's fingerprints and immediately forward the form, photograph and fingerprints to the bureau.

§11224.       Duty of person employed or attending college or school to register

     A person who is required under another jurisdiction to register pursuant to that jurisdiction's sex offender registration statute because the person is domiciled in another state or, if not so required, who is has been convicted and sentenced for an offense that includes the essential elements of a sex offense or sexually violent offense that would require registration in this State shall register as a sex offender 10-year registrant or sexually violent predator lifetime registrant, whichever is applicable, within 10 5 days and shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction with 24 hours of beginning full-time or part-time employment, with or without compensation, for more than 14 consecutive days or for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year or beginning college or school on a full-time or part-time basis in this State. The person shall contact the bureau, which shall provide the person with a registration form and direct the person to take the form and a photograph of the person to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction. The law enforcement agency shall supervise the completion of the form, take the person's fingerprints and immediately forward the form, photograph and fingerprints to the bureau.

     Sec. C-23. 34-A MRSA §11225, as amended by PL 2001, c. 553, §§7 and 8, is further amended to read:

§11225. Duration of registration

     1. Ten-year registrant. A sex offender person coming within the definition of a 10-year registrant shall register for a period of 10 years from the initial date of registration pursuant to this chapter, except that a sex offender 10-year registrant required to register because the sex offender that registrant established a domicile in this State subsequent to being declared a sex offender in required to register pursuant to another state or under another jurisdiction jurisdiction's sex offender registration statute for a period of years other than life shall register for a maximum of 10 years from the date when the sex offender that registrant was first required to register in the other state or under another jurisdiction. A sex offender person coming within the definition of a 10-year registrant who has been sentenced from June 30, 1992 to September 17, 1999 shall register for a period of 10 years, to be calculated as follows.

     2. Lifetime registrant. A sexually violent predator person coming within the definition of a lifetime registrant who has been sentenced on or after June 30, 1992 shall register for the duration of the sexually violent predator's that registrant's life.

A person who has established a domicile in this State subsequent to being required to register pursuant to another jurisdiction's sex offender registration statute for a lifetime or who is a person coming within the definition of a lifetime registrant shall register for the duration of the registrant's life.

     2-A. Periods when domiciled outside Maine. Notwithstanding subsections 1 and 2, during any period in which the 10-year registrant or lifetime registrant leaves the State, establishes a domicile in another state and remains physically absent from the State the bureau may suspend the requirement that a 10-year registrant or lifetime registrant register.

     3. Periods of incarceration or civil confinement. Notwithstanding subsections 1 and 2, the bureau may suspend the requirement that a sex offender 10-year registrant or sexually violent predator lifetime registrant register during periods of incarceration or civil confinement.

     4. Relief from duty to register. If the underlying conviction for a sex offense or sexually violent offense is reversed, vacated or set aside, or if the registrant is pardoned for the offense, registration or continued registration as a sex offender 10-year registrant or sexually violent predator lifetime registrant is no longer required.

     Sec. C-24. 34-A MRSA §11226, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 437, §2, is amended to read:

     The bureau may charge a $25 annual fee to persons required to register under this chapter. Sex offenders or sexually violent predators Registrants shall pay the fee at the time of initial registration and shall pay the fee on each anniversary of their initial registration.

     Sec. C-25. 34-A MRSA §11227, sub-§§1, 2, 3 and 6, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. S, §1 and affected by Pt. X, §2, are amended to read:

     1. Failure to register or update information. A sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant who fails to register or update the information required under this chapter commits a Class D crime.

     2. Failure to register or update information; 2nd offense. A sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant who has one prior conviction for failure to register or update the information required under this chapter commits a Class D crime.

     3. Failure to register or update information; 3rd or subsequent offense. A sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant who fails to register or update the information required under this chapter when the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant has 2 or more prior convictions in this State for violation of this chapter commits a Class C crime.

     6. Affirmative defense. It is an affirmative defense that the failure to register or update information resulted from just cause, except that sex offenders or sexually violent predators registrants convicted from June 30, 1992 to September 17, 1999 may not raise a defense under just cause that they were not aware of the registration requirement.

     Sec. C-26. 34-A MRSA §11253, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §15, is amended to read:

§11253. Risk assessment

     The department shall establish and apply a risk assessment instrument to each sex offender and sexually violent predator registrant under its jurisdiction for the purpose of notification to law enforcement agencies and to the public.

     Sec. C-27. 34-A MRSA §11254, as amended by PL 2003, c. 371, §13, is further amended to read:

§11254.      Mandatory notification of conditional release or discharge of registrants

     The department, county jails, state mental health institutes and the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification are governed by the following notice provisions when a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant is conditionally released or discharged.

     1. Duties. The department, a county jail or a state mental health institute shall give the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification notice of the following:

     2. Duties of the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification. Upon receipt of the information concerning the conditional release or discharge of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant pursuant to subsection 1, the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification shall forward the information in subsection 1 to all law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction in those areas where the sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant may be domiciled, reside, work or attend college or school.

     Sec. C-28. 34-A MRSA §§11255 and 11256, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. OOO, §15, are amended to read:

§11255. Public notification

     1. Department. Upon the conditional release or discharge of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant from a state correctional institution, the department shall give notice of the information under section 11254, subsection 1 to members of the public the department determines appropriate to ensure public safety.

     2. Law enforcement agencies. Upon receipt of the information concerning the conditional release or discharge of a sex offender or sexually violent predator registrant pursuant to section 11254, subsection 2, a law enforcement agency shall notify members of a municipality that the law enforcement agency determines appropriate to ensure public safety.

§11256. Risk assessment assistance

     Upon request, the department shall provide to law enforcement agencies technical assistance concerning risk assessment for purposes of notification to the public of a sex offender's or sexually violent predator's registrant's conditional release or discharge.

Revisor of Statutes Homepage Subject Index Search 121st Laws of Maine Maine Legislature

About the 2003 Laws Of Maine

Previous PageTop Of PageTable Of ContentsNext Page

Office of the Revisor of Statutes
State House, Room 108
Augusta, Maine 04333

Contact the Office of the Revisor of Statutes