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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 552S.P. 204 In Senate, February 11, 2025
An Act to Create an Outfitter License for Owners and Operators of
Hunting, Fishing and Recreation Businesses Who Are Not Maine
Guides
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator GUERIN of Penobscot. (BY REQUEST) Page 1 - 132LR2318(01)
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2 as amended by PL 2013, c. 88, ยง1, is further
3 amended to read:
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5 provides that person's services in accompanying or assisting a person in the fields or forests
6 or on the waters or ice within the jurisdiction of the State while hunting, fishing, trapping,
7 boating, snowmobiling, using an all-terrain vehicle or camping at a primitive camping area
8 when a guide's training is essential for the safety of the activity.
9 is enacted to read:
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11 hunting, fishing or recreation who is not a guide.
12 is enacted to read:
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16 A person may not act as an outfitter without a valid license issued under this chapter.
17 The fee for an outfitter license is $135. Any person operating as an outfitter is subject to a
18 background check pursuant to section 12872.
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20 The commissioner shall request a background check for each person who applies for
21 an outfitter license under this chapter. The background check must include criminal history
22 record information obtained from the Maine Criminal Justice Information System
23 established in Title 16, section 631 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
24 The criminal history record information
25 must be obtained and used as follows.
26 A. The criminal history record information obtained from the Maine Criminal Justice
27 Information System must include a record of public criminal history record information
28 as defined in Title 16, section 703, subsection 8.
29 B. The criminal history record information obtained from the Federal Bureau of
30 Investigation must include other state and national criminal history record information.
31 C. An applicant who is the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history
32 record check may obtain a copy of the criminal history record check by following the
33 procedures outlined in 28 Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 16.32 and 16.33. An
34 applicant who is the subject of a state criminal history record check may inspect and
35 review the criminal history record information pursuant to Title 16, section 709.
36 D. State and federal criminal history record information may be used by the department
37 for the purpose of screening each applicant. Page 2 - 132LR2318(01)
1 The Commissioner of Public Safety shall assess a fee set annually by the
2 Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for each initial criminal history record
3 check and a fee set annually by the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for each
4 renewal criminal history record check required by this section.
5 An applicant shall submit to having fingerprints taken. The State
6 Police, upon payment of the fee required under subsection 2 by the applicant, shall take or
7 cause to be taken the applicant's fingerprints and shall forward the fingerprints to the
8 Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification so that the bureau can conduct
9 state and national criminal history record checks. Except for the portion of the payment, if
10 any, that constitutes the processing fee charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, all
11 money received by the State Police pursuant to this subsection must be paid to the Treasurer
12 of State. The money must be applied to the expenses of administration incurred by the
13 Department of Public Safety.
14 Information obtained pursuant to this section is confidential. The
15 results of background checks received by the department are for official use only and may
16 not be disclosed to any other person or entity.
17 A person whose outfitter license has expired and who has not applied
18 for renewal may request in writing that the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of
19 Identification remove the person's fingerprints from the bureau's fingerprint file. In
20 response to a written request, the bureau shall remove the person's fingerprints from the
21 fingerprint file and provide written confirmation of that removal to the requester. The
22 Commissioner of Public Safety may, without notice to a person, remove fingerprints from
23 the fingerprint file maintained by the bureau if the person has not held an outfitter license
24 for 7 years or more.
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26 The department shall adopt rules to implement this chapter. Rules adopted pursuant to
27 this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
28 is enacted to read:
29 CC. Who has applied for an outfitter license under Title 12, chapter 928.
30 is enacted to read:
31 BB. The State Police shall take or cause to be taken the fingerprints of the person
32 named in subsection 1, paragraph CC at the request of that person and upon payment
33 of the fee by that person as required by Title 12, chapter 928.
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35 This bill establishes an outfitter license for persons who own or operate a business for
36 hunting, fishing or recreation who are not registered as Maine guides. The bill also amends
37 the definition of "guide."
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