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Public Law
123rd Legislature
First Regular Session
Chapter 209
H.P. 864 - L.D. 1183
An Act To Clarify Public Safety Laws Regarding the Disclosure of Information and the Storage of Evidence, To Reauthorize the United States Secret Service To Enforce Certain State Laws and To Allow Designees To Serve on the Maine Communications System Policy Board
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 25 MRSA §1502-A, sub-§1,  as amended by PL 2001, c. 602, §1, is further amended to read:
 
1. Definition.   For purposes of this section, “federal officers” means the following persons who are authorized to carry firearms in the performance of their duties as federal law enforcement employees or officers:
 
A.  Special Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice; 
 
B.  Immigration Inspectors, including Deportation Officers and Immigration Examiners when acting in the capacity of Immigration Inspectors of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice; 
 
C.  Border Patrol Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice; 
 
D.  Officers of the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury; and 
 
E.  Any of the officers listed in this subsection who are assigned to or are acting in concert with a task force, but only if that task force meets the following requirements:
 
(1) The task force is a task force of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency authorized under this Title; or
 
(2) The task force is a joint federal-state task force operating primarily within the territorial boundaries of this State and:
 
(a) An arrest is part of or related to an investigation of that federal-state task force; or
 
(b) An arrest occurs in a prosecutorial district and either:
 
(i) The district attorney of that district or the district attorney’s written designee actively participates in and oversees the activities of the task force; or
 
(ii) The arrest occurs anywhere within the State and the Attorney General or the Attorney General’s written designee actively participates in and oversees the activities of the task force.;
 
F.  Special Agents of the United States Secret Service of the Department of Homeland Security; and 
 
G.  An officer of an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security that has administrative and enforcement jurisdiction over immigration, customs or border security matters. 
 
Federal officers are law enforcement officers for the purposes of Title 17-A, section 2, subsection 17.
Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §1502-A, sub-§5, ¶B-1,  as enacted by PL 2001, c. 602, §3 and affected by §4, is further amended to read:
 
B-1. The Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice and the United States Customs Service of the Department of the Treasuryfederal agencies of the Department of Homeland Security shall develop policies governing their employees, including training policies.
Sec. 3. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ¶A,  as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is amended to read:
 
A.  The Commissioner of Public Safety, ex officio, or the commissioner’s designee;
Sec. 4. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ¶B,  as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is amended to read:
 
B. The Chief of the State Police, ex officio, or the chief’s designee;
Sec. 5. 25 MRSA §1531, sub-§2, ¶C,  as enacted by PL 2003, c. 678, §2, is amended to read:
 
C. The Chief Information Officer within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, ex officio, or the Chief Information Officer’s designee;
Sec. 6. 25 MRSA §2929, sub-§6,  as enacted by PL 1997, c. 291, §3, is amended to read:
 
6. Penalty for disseminating information.  DisclosingKnowingly disclosing confidential information in violation of subsection 2 or knowingly disclosing audio recordings of emergency calls to the E-9-1-1 system in violation of subsection 4 is a Class E crime.
Sec. 7. 25 MRSA §3821, first ¶,  as enacted by PL 1999, c. 719, §4 and affected by §11, is amended to read:
If an alleged victim of gross sexual assault has a forensic examination and has not reported the alleged offense to a law enforcement agency when the examination is complete, the licensed hospital or licensed health care practitioner that completed the forensic examination shall notify the nearest law enforcement agency. That law enforcement agency shall transport the completed kit, identified only by a tracking number assigned by the hospital or health care practitioner, to its evidence storage facility. The law enforcement agency shall store the kit for at least 90 days from the time of receipt. If during that 90-day period the alleged victim reports the offense to a law enforcement agency, the investigating agency storing the kit shall transporttake possession of the kit to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory.
 
Effective September 20, 2007