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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
_____
S.P. 949 - L.D. 2219
An Act to Implement the Recommendations Regarding the Maine
Commission on Public Defense Services
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1801, as amended by PL 2023, c. 558, §3, is further amended to
read:
§1801. Maine Commission on Public Defense Services; established
The Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, established by Title 5, section
12004‑G, subsection is an independent commission whose purpose is to provide
efficient, high-quality, effective and efficient representation to indigent criminal
defendants, juvenile defendants and children and parents in child protective cases, and
promote due process for persons who receive indigent legal services in parity with the
resources of the State and consistent with federal and state constitutional and statutory
obligations. The commission shall work to ensure the delivery of indigent legal services
by qualified and competent counsel in a manner that is fair and consistent throughout the
State and to ensure adequate funding of a statewide system of indigent legal services, which
must be provided and managed in a fiscally responsible manner, free from undue political
interference and conflicts of interest.
Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §1802, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
3-A. Employed counsel.
commission to provide legal services directly to persons who are eligible to receive indigent
legal services in civil proceedings.
Sec. 3. 4 MRSA §1802, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5. Public defender.
commission to provide legal services directly to persons who are eligible to receive indigent
legal services in criminal and juvenile proceedings.
Sec. 4. 4 MRSA §1802-A is enacted to read:
§1802-A. Employed counsel and public defender
APPROVED
APRIL 16, 2024
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
638
PUBLIC LAW Page 2 - 131LR3049(03)
An attorney may be employed by the commission both as "employed counsel" and as
a "public defender."
Sec. 5. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 419, §2, is amended to
read:
1. Executive director.
director must be an attorney licensed to practice law in this State; be a member in good
standing of the bar of the State; and have experience in the legal field, including, but not
limited to, the provision of indigent legal services.
Sec. 6. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2023, c. 344, §1, is further
amended to read:
2. Rulemaking.
legal services by assigned counsel, contract counsel, employed counsel and public
defenders. The rules adopted by the commission must include:
A. Standards governing eligibility for indigent legal services. The eligibility standards
must take into account the possibility of a defendant's or civil party's ability to make
periodic installment payments toward counsel fees and the cost of private legal services
in the relevant geographic area;
B. Standards prescribing minimum experience, training and other qualifications for
contract eligibility requirements for attorneys to be eligible to serve as assigned
counsel, assigned contract counsel and, employed counsel and public defenders;
C. Standards for assigned counsel, contract counsel, employed counsel and public
defender case loads caseloads;
D. Standards for the evaluation of assigned counsel, contract counsel, employed
counsel and public defenders. The commission shall review the standards developed
pursuant to this paragraph at least every 5 years, or earlier upon the recommendation
of the executive director;
E. Standards for independent, high-quality, effective and efficient representation of
clients whose cases present conflicts of interest;
F. Standards for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by assigned counsel, contract
counsel, employed counsel and public defenders, including attendance at training
events provided by the commission; and
G. Other standards considered necessary and appropriate to ensure the delivery of
adequate high-quality, effective and efficient indigent legal services.
Sec. 7. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2023, c. 344, §2, is further
amended to read:
A. Develop and maintain a system that employs employed counsel and public
defenders, uses appointed private attorneys and contracts with individual attorneys or
groups of attorneys. The commission shall consider other programs necessary to
provide quality high-quality, effective and efficient indigent legal services;
Sec. 8. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶C, as amended by PL 2011, c. 420, Pt. C, §1, is
further amended to read: Page 3 - 131LR3049(03)
C. Establish processes and procedures consistent with commission standards to ensure
that office and contract personnel use information technology and case load caseload
management systems so that detailed expenditure and case load indigent legal services
caseload data are accurately collected, recorded and reported;
Sec. 9. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶D,
and the following enacted in its place:
D. To ensure an adequate pool of qualified attorneys, develop training and evaluation
programs for attorneys throughout the State to provide representation in criminal,
juvenile, child protective, involuntary commitment and all other types of proceedings
for which parties may be eligible to receive indigent legal services;
Sec. 10. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶E,
amended to read:
E. Establish minimum qualifications eligibility standards to ensure that attorneys who
provide indigent legal services are qualified and capable of providing quality high-
quality, effective and efficient representation in the case types to which they are
assigned, recognizing that quality high-quality, effective and efficient representation in
each of these types of cases requires counsel with experience and specialized training
in that field;
Sec. 11. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶G, as amended by PL 2023, c. 344, §4, is further
amended to read:
G. Establish a method for accurately tracking, monitoring and enforcing case load
caseload standards for assigned counsel, contract counsel, employed counsel and
public defenders;
Sec. 12. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§3, ¶H, as amended by PL 2023, c. 344, §5, is further
amended by amending subparagraph (1) to read:
(1) An evaluation of: contracts; services provided by contract counsel, assigned
counsel, employed counsel and public defenders; any contracted professional
services; and cost containment measures; and
Sec. 13. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶D, as amended by PL 2021, c. 398, Pt. FFF, §1
and c. 481, §5, is further amended to read:
D. Adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Rules adopted pursuant to this
paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A,
except that rules adopted to establish rates of compensation for assigned counsel and
contract counsel under subsection 3, paragraph F are major substantive rules as defined
in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A; and
Sec. 14. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶E,
amended to read:
E. Appear in court and before other administrative bodies represented by its own
attorneys.; and
Sec. 15. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶F is enacted to read: Page 4 - 131LR3049(03)
F. Notwithstanding Title 5, chapter 155, through employed counsel and public
defenders, retain investigative and expert services that are reasonably necessary for
case-specific purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, investigative and expert
services are for case-specific purposes if the services relate to a specific case and not
to the ongoing activities of the commission, or its employees, that do not relate to a
specific case. Nothing in this paragraph affects the applicability of Title 5, chapter 155
to the purchase of services, supplies, materials and equipment by the commission or its
employees for purposes that are not case-specific purposes.
Sec. 16. 4 MRSA §1805, sub-§7, ¶B-1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 475, Pt. A, §2,
is further amended to read:
B-1. A monthly report on the number of cases opened, the number of vouchers
submitted, the amount of vouchers paid, the amount of payments to contract counsel,
the number of requests for professional services, the amount of payments for
professional services and information on any complaints made against assigned or
counsel, contract counsel, employed counsel or public defenders; and
Sec. 17. 4 MRSA §1806, as amended by PL 2023, c. 344, §6, is further amended to
read:
§1806. Information not public record
Disclosure of information and records in the possession of the commission is governed
by this section.
1. Definitions.
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Individual client information" means name,; date of birth,; social security number,;
gender,; ethnicity,; home, work, school or other address,; home telephone number,
home facsimile; fax number, home; e-mail address, personal; cellular telephone
number, personal; pager number; and any information protected under the Maine Rules
of Evidence, Rules 501 to 509 or the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6
or otherwise protected by the attorney-client relationship.
B. "Personal contact information" means home address, home telephone number,
home facsimile fax number, home e-mail address, personal cellular telephone number,
personal pager number, date of birth and social security number.
C. "Request for funds for expert or investigative assistance" means a request submitted
to the commission by an indigent party or by an attorney or on behalf of an indigent
client a person eligible for indigent legal services seeking authorization to expend funds
for expert or investigative assistance, which includes, but is not limited to, the
assistance of a private investigator, interpreter or translator, psychiatrist, psychologist
or other mental health expert, medical expert and scientific expert.
D. "Case information" means:
(1) The court in which a case is brought;
(2) Any criminal charges or juvenile crime charges and the type, but not the
contents, of any petition giving rise to a case;
(3) The docket number; Page 5 - 131LR3049(03)
(4) The identity of assigned counsel and the date of assignment;
(5) The withdrawal of assigned counsel and the date of withdrawal; and
(6) Any order for reimbursement of assigned counsel fees.
2. Confidential information.
possession of the commission are not open to public inspection and do not constitute public
records as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3.
A. Individual client information that is submitted by a commission-rostered attorney
or a court is confidential, except that the names of criminal defendants and the names
of juvenile defendants charged with offenses that if committed by an adult would
constitute murder or a Class A, Class B or Class C crime are not confidential.
B. Information subject to the lawyer-client privilege set forth in the Maine Rules of
Evidence, Rule 502 or that constitutes a confidence or secret under the Maine Rules of
Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6 is confidential.
C. Personal contact information of a commission-rostered attorney is confidential.
D. Personal contact information of a member of the commission or a commission staff
member employee, including employed counsel and public defenders, is confidential.
E. A request for funds for expert or investigative assistance that is submitted by an
indigent party or by an attorney on behalf of an indigent client is confidential. The
decision of the executive director of the commission hired pursuant to section 1804,
subsection 1, or the executive director's designee, to grant or deny such a request is not
confidential after a case has been completed. A case is completed when the judgment
is affirmed on appeal or the period for appeal has expired.
F. Any information obtained or gathered by the commission through a formal or
informal complaint or when performing an evaluation or investigation of an attorney
is confidential, except that it may be disclosed to the attorney being evaluated or
investigated.:
(1) The commission may disclose the information to the attorney who is the subject
of the formal or informal complaint, evaluation or investigation;
(2) The executive director of the commission hired pursuant to section 1804,
subsection 1, or the executive director's designee, may disclose the information to
the Maine Assistance Program for Lawyers described in Title 14, section 164-A;
(3) If the attorney who is subject to an evaluation or investigation appeals a
decision of the executive director or the executive director's designee, in
accordance with the process established under section 1804, subsection 3,
paragraph J, the information may be disclosed at a public hearing conducted by the
commission on the appeal, except that information that is protected by the attorney-
client privilege or that is confidential under any provision of law, the Maine Rules
of Evidence or the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct remains confidential; and
(4) As provided in subsection 4.
3. Confidential information disclosed by the Judicial Department. The Judicial
Department may disclose to the commission confidential information necessary for the Page 6 - 131LR3049(03)
commission to carry out its functions, including, but not limited to, the collection of
amounts owed to reimburse the State for the cost of assigned counsel, as follows:
A. Case information and individual client information with respect to court
proceedings that are confidential by statute or court rule in which one or more parties
are represented by assigned counsel; and
B. The name, address, date of birth and social security number of any person ordered
by the court to reimburse the State for some or all of the cost of assigned counsel.
This information Information received by the commission from the Judicial Department
under this subsection remains confidential in the possession of the commission and is not
open to public inspection, except that the names of criminal defendants and the names of
juvenile defendants charged with offenses that, if committed by an adult would constitute
murder or a Class A, Class B or Class C crime, are not confidential.
4. Rules of professional conduct.
director of the commission hired pursuant to section 1804, subsection 1, or the executive
director's designee, from reporting potential professional misconduct under the Maine
Rules of Professional Conduct to the Board of Overseers of the Bar or from disclosing
information and records related to potential professional misconduct to the board.
5. Confidential information possessed by employed counsel and public defenders.
Records, information and materials created, received, obtained, maintained or stored by or
on behalf of employed counsel and public defenders that are protected under the Maine
Rules of Evidence, Rules 501 to 509 or the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6
or otherwise protected by the attorney-client relationship are confidential.
Sec. 18. 15 MRSA §3010, sub-§4, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 365, §9 and
affected by §37, is amended to read:
B. Any person for any purpose when expressly authorized by a statute, court rule, court
decision or court order containing language specifically referring to confidential
juvenile history record information or one or more of the types of confidential juvenile
history record information; or
Sec. 19. 15 MRSA §3010, sub-§4, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 365, §9 and
affected by §37, is amended to read:
C. A public entity for purposes of international travel, such as issuing visas and
granting of citizenship.; or
Sec. 20. 15 MRSA §3010, sub-§4, ¶D is enacted to read:
D. The Maine Commission on Public Defense Services established by Title 5, section
12004-G, subsection 25-A for the purposes of assigning, evaluating or supervising
counsel.
Sec. 21. 15 MRSA §3306, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 2019, c. 525, §15, is
further amended to read:
B. If the juvenile requests an attorney and if the juvenile and the juvenile's parent or
parents, guardian or legal custodian are found to be without sufficient financial means,
the juvenile must be considered indigent and counsel must be appointed by the court. Page 7 - 131LR3049(03)
If, after counsel has been appointed, private counsel retained by the juvenile enters an
appearance, appointed counsel must file a motion to withdraw.
Sec. 22. 15 MRSA §3308-C, sub-§4, ¶H is enacted to read:
H. Juvenile case records must be open to inspection by and, upon request, be
disseminated to the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services established by
Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 25-A for the purposes of assigning, evaluating or
supervising counsel.
Sec. 23. 22 MRSA §4005, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1983, c. 783, §2, is further
amended to read:
2. Parents.
proceedings, except a request for a preliminary protection order under section 4034 or a
petition for a medical treatment order under section 4071, but including hearings on those
orders. They The parent or custodian may request the court to appoint legal counsel for
them the parent or custodian. The court, if it finds them the parent or custodian indigent,
shall appoint and pay the reasonable costs and expenses of their legal counsel.
Sec. 24. 22 MRSA §4005-D, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
3-A. Maine Commission on Public Defense Services; access to proceedings.
executive director of the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services established by
Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 25-A, or the executive director's designee, is
authorized to attend and observe all court proceedings under this chapter for any purpose
related to assigning, evaluating or supervising counsel, unless the court makes written
findings that specific factors unique to the particular proceeding make it inappropriate for
the executive director or the executive director's designee to attend all or a part of the
proceeding. If the court denies the executive director or the executive director's designee
access to the proceeding as provided in this subsection, the court shall order that a copy of
a recording of the proceeding or of a transcript of the proceeding be provided to the
executive director of the commission at no charge. The court may not grant the
commission, the executive director or the executive director's designee intervenor status or
the right to be heard solely on the basis of attendance by the executive director or the
executive director's designee at a court proceeding under the authority granted in this
subsection.
Sec. 25. 22 MRSA §4006, first ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 715, Pt.
A, §3, is amended to read:
A party aggrieved by an order of a court entered pursuant to section 4035, 4054 or 4071
may appeal directly to the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court, and such
appeals are governed by the Maine Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure, chapter 9.
Sec. 26. 22 MRSA §4007, sub-§1-A, ¶E is enacted to read:
E. The court shall disclose records that are confidential under this subsection to the
Maine Commission on Public Defense Services established by Title 5, section
12004-G, subsection 25-A for the purpose of assigning, evaluating or supervising
counsel.
Sec. 27. 22 MRSA §4008, sub-§2, ¶L, as amended by PL 2023, c. 39, §1, is further
amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read: Page 8 - 131LR3049(03)
(2) Activities or employment relating to adults with intellectual disabilities,
autism, related conditions as set out in 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Section
435.1010 or acquired brain injury; and
Sec. 28. 22 MRSA §4008, sub-§2, ¶M, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 494, Pt. A, §23,
is amended to read:
M. The personal representative of the estate of a child named in a record who is
reported to be abused or neglected.; and
Sec. 29. 22 MRSA §4008, sub-§2, ¶N is enacted to read:
N. The Maine Commission on Public Defense Services established by Title 5, section
12004-G, subsection 25-A for the purpose of assigning, evaluating or supervising
counsel, with protection for identity of reporters and other persons when appropriate.