Maine Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Maine, with full citations and the original source on every page.
Can Maine pass a law capping how much hospital executives are paid, and how would the state actually enforce that?
AG Frey said the Legislature arguably has the authority to cap hospital executive pay if the cap is prospective only, and outlined three enforcement routes: tying it to hospital licensure, tying it to…
Does the federal Plyler v. Doe ruling prevent Maine from requiring students to be vaccinated and removing religious or philosophical opt-outs?
No. AG Frey concluded that nothing in Plyler stops a state from imposing reasonable school entrance requirements like proof of immunization, and Maine's 2019 repeal of non-medical vaccination exemptio…
Can Maine's Department of Health and Human Services hand confidential child welfare records straight to the Government Oversight Committee, or does the law route those records through a different office?
Direct release to the GOC is not authorized. AG Frey concluded that Maine's confidentiality framework routes confidential child welfare records to OPEGA, the GOC's investigative arm, not to the GOC it…
If a Maine city condemns a privately-held conservation easement so it can hand the land to a developer, does the easement automatically end, or does a court still have to approve the change?
The easement is not automatically extinguished. AG Frey concluded that since 2007, only a court can terminate or amend a conservation easement in a way that materially detracts from its protections, i…
Are Maine school board members supposed to act on behalf of the town that elected them, or as state officers carrying out state law?
Assistant AG Sarah Forster concluded that Maine school board members were public officers responsible to the state, not town representatives. Once elected, they had to apply state education law faithf…
Could the Maine legislature let each municipality decide whether to exempt all personal property and business equipment from taxation, or did the state constitution require uniform statewide rules?
AG Frey advised that LD 824 had significant constitutional problems. Article IX § 8 requires property taxes to be 'apportioned and assessed equally according to the just value thereof,' and the Maine …
If the Bureau of Parks and Lands wants to lease part of Cold Stream Forest to Central Maine Power for a transmission line, does it need a 2/3 vote of the Legislature first?
Not necessarily. The designated lands statute (12 M.R.S.A. § 598-A) controls because it was a more recent and more comprehensive enactment than the Land for Maine's Future restriction in 5 M.R.S.A. § …
Could DHHS build a new secure forensic 'step-down' psychiatric facility on state property without first getting legislative approval, just because the agency had funds in hand?
No. AG Mills explained that having funds is not enough. The Maine Constitution gives executive agencies only the authority the Legislature gives them, and Maine's appropriations statutes (5 M.R.S. §§ …
After the 2012 Mining Law gave Maine's Department of Environmental Protection broad rulemaking authority over metallic mineral mining, did DEP also have authority to adopt rules categorically banning mining on state-owned land?
No. The 1985 Mining on State Lands subchapter (Title 12 §§ 549-549-C) gives the agency holding the state land, in consultation with the Director of the Survey, jurisdiction over mining on that land. T…
Did Maine's 2016 ranked-choice voting initiative violate the state constitution by replacing the 'plurality of votes' rule with multiple rounds of counting?
AG Mills concluded that LD 1557 raised serious state constitutional concerns for the offices of Governor, State Senator, and State Representative. The Maine Constitution provides that those offices ar…
What are the constitutional limits on how the Maine legislature can spend the income generated by the state's Public Reserved Lands?
AG Mills explained that the Articles of Separation, embedded as Article X of the Maine Constitution, make Public Reserved Lands public trust property. Two authorities (a 1973 Opinion of the Justices a…
When a Maine House Speaker sued the Governor in his individual and official capacity, what authorization did the Governor need to retain private counsel at state expense?
Deputy AG Herman authorized Governor LePage to retain Patrick Strawbridge of Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC to defend Eves v. LePage at $380 per hour, capped at the State's $400,000 self-insurance limit …
If the Maine Legislature adjourned 'to the call of the presiding officers' rather than sine die, and the Governor sat on bills for more than 10 days without signing or vetoing them, did those bills become law?
Yes. AG Mills concluded that a day-to-day adjournment subject to recall is not the 'adjournment' that prevents return of a bill under Article IV, Part 3, Section 2 of the Maine Constitution. Only sine…
What is Maine's record on prosecuting EBT card misuse, public benefits fraud, and provider fraud, and how does the AG balance high-visibility recipient cases against lower-visibility provider cases?
AG Mills described an active prosecution program. In the three years before the letter, her office had prosecuted 37 DHHS fraud cases with significant jail time and $489,954 in restitution; obtained c…
If Maine wanted to amend its General Assistance eligibility rules to exclude legal noncitizens that federal TANF and SNAP rules also exclude, would the change survive a federal Equal Protection challenge?
Probably not. AAG Justin Barnard advised that strict scrutiny applies to state laws drawing alienage-based distinctions (*Graham v. Richardson*, 1971), and that PRWORA's purported grant of discretion …
Did Maine's 2013 AG opinion say the Legislature can pass a continuing resolution to keep state government funded if the Governor vetoes the budget and the Legislature can't override?
The AG analyzed the constitutional question against the backdrop of a Governor LePage veto threat in June 2013. The opinion concluded that the Legislature has authority under the Maine Constitution to…
Did Maine's 2013 AG opinion say undocumented immigrants are eligible for Maine's General Assistance benefits?
The opinion analyzed the federal PRWORA framework (8 U.S.C. section 1621) that generally bars undocumented immigrants from state public benefits unless the State affirmatively re-authorizes eligibilit…
Did Maine's 2013 AG opinion approve the legality of LD 239, the bill that would have raised state revenue from liquor sales to pay back Maine's debt to its hospitals?
The opinion provided a legal analysis of LD 239 (An Act to Improve the Return to the State on the Sale of Spirits and to Provide a Source of Payment for Maine's Hospitals). The AG identified specific …
Did Maine's 2013 AG opinion say the State or the Wabanaki tribes have authority to regulate saltwater fishing under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Acts?
The opinion concluded that, at the time of issuance, the State of Maine retained authority to regulate saltwater fisheries even within the tribes' coastal areas, while the tribes retained sustenance-f…
Did Maine's 2012 AG opinion say the Penobscot Nation or the State has authority to regulate hunting and fishing on the main stem of the Penobscot River?
The opinion analyzed the division of jurisdiction set out in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Acts. The AG concluded at the time that the State of Maine retained authority to regulate hunting and fi…
Did Maine State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin's ownership of the Popham Beach Club and his real estate development company Dirigo Holdings, LLC violate the Maine Constitution's prohibition on the Treasurer engaging in 'any business of trade or commerce'?
Maybe, depending on activity. The AG concluded that passive stock ownership is permissible but active business operation likely is not. The constitutional ban in art. V, pt. 3, § 3 has very little cas…
Could Maine constitutionally use Highway Fund revenue (collected from gas taxes and vehicle fees) to subsidize the Maine State Ferry Service that connects mainland communities with offshore islands?
Yes, with caveats. The AG concluded that the 1996 AG opinion (Op. 96-11) remained defensible: Highway Fund money could be used for ferries whose 'principal purpose is the transportation of motor vehic…
Did Maine's 2011 voter-ID/registration bill (LD 1376) impose a state-funded mandate on towns and cities under Maine Constitution Article IX, § 21?
The Maine AG concluded that LD 1376 did not constitute a state mandate under Article IX, § 21. Even though it required municipalities to modify activities by adding provisional balloting, eliminating …
Could Maine's LD 340 constitutionally bar federally certified foreign workers from working in timber harvesting on Maine state lands?
No. The AG concluded LD 340 was unconstitutional on two grounds: federal preemption (because the federal H-2 visa certification program already determines who can lawfully work in U.S. timber jobs bas…
Could Maine constitutionally require people to live in Maine for a certain period of time before becoming eligible for TANF or Medicaid?
No. The AG concluded a durational residency requirement for state-administered TANF and Medicaid would violate the Fourteenth Amendment under Shapiro v. Thompson (1969) and Saenz v. Roe (1999). States…
Could a Maine federally recognized tribe license the Incentovation Electronic Pull-Tab System (an electronic terminal that prints win/loss tickets at game time) under the state's amended sealed-ticket statute?
No. AG Janet Mills concluded the system fell outside 17 M.R.S.A. § 314-A as amended in 2009 because the machine itself, rather than a preprinted ticket, determined the outcome of the game. The 'elemen…
Does Maine's Freedom of Access Act require legislative party caucuses to meet in public?
The AG's office had not issued a formal opinion on the question. Chief Deputy AG Linda Pistner clarified to the Judiciary Committee that the FOAA's public-proceedings provisions cover 'the Legislature…
Did Maine's 2009 marriage equality law require Maine public schools to teach about same-sex marriage?
No. AG Janet Mills concluded that PL 2009, c. 82 (which expanded civil marriage to same-sex couples) had no impact on the curricula of Maine's public schools. Marriage law lives in Title 19-A; school …
Did Maine's Informed Growth Act (which limits new big-box retail unless an economic-impact study finds no 'undue adverse impact') violate the dormant Commerce Clause or federal antitrust laws?
No, in the AG's view. AG Janet Mills concluded the Informed Growth Act could be defended on both fronts: it does not directly discriminate against out-of-state interests under dormant Commerce Clause …
Could Maine pay outstanding MaineCare hospital settlements with proceeds from a General Fund bond issue?
Likely no. AG Janet Mills concluded that hospital settlements are 'current expenditures,' which Article V, Part 3, Section 5 of the Maine Constitution prohibits funding from the proceeds of bond sales…
Could the Maine Public Utilities Commission refuse a municipality's or county's request to switch its Public Safety Answering Point (911 dispatch) service provider?
The Maine AG concluded that even though 25 M.R.S.A. § 2926 does not expressly say the PUC may refuse a PSAP-change request, the Emergency Services Communication Bureau's site-identification authority …
When a Maine state agency's records sit on computers run by the central Office of Information Technology, who is the records custodian for FOAA requests?
The originating agency. AG Janet Mills concluded that OIT's policy assigning FOAA-response responsibility to the agency that collected the records (rather than to OIT, which only hosts the data) did n…
Could the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians conduct high-stakes bingo/beano games on Houlton Band Trust Lands under Maine's tribal gaming statute?
No. While the Houlton Band, as a federally recognized tribe, was eligible to receive a license under 17 M.R.S.A. § 314-A(1), subsection (5)(C) required all licensed games to be conducted within the li…
Does a Maine county commissioner automatically vacate her seat by selling her home in her electoral district and moving to a different district within the same county?
Yes, in the AG's view. AG Steven Rowe concluded that a court would likely hold that a county commissioner who sells her home in her electoral district and buys a home outside it has changed her voting…
Could the Maliseet tribal court hear Maliseet child welfare cases under the 2002 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Houlton Band and the State of Maine?
No. The AG concluded the Intergovernmental Agreement only authorized transfer of Maliseet child welfare cases to the Penobscot or Passamaquoddy tribal courts, and the Maliseet tribal court could not e…
Could Maine counties spend property tax revenues from unorganized-territory TIF districts on county-wide economic development that would benefit organized areas, without violating Article IX, Section 8 of the Maine Constitution?
Likely problematic. The AG concluded that L.D. 2229 satisfied Article IX, Section 8 only if the spending produced a 'special benefit' to the unorganized territory. To the extent it allowed unorganized…
Did Maine's mandatory reporting law require professionals to report all underage sexual activity that could constitute a crime, even consensual conduct between near-age minors with no sign of harm?
No. The AG concluded that 22 M.R.S.A. § 4011-A required a report only when the mandated reporter had reasonable cause to suspect a threat to a child's health or welfare. Mere knowledge that minor sexu…
Did Maine's Constitution require the Legislature to pass LD 203, which would have barred college students living in college-owned housing from establishing voting residency in Maine?
No. The AG concluded that Article II, Section 1 did not require LD 203, and that the bill, if enacted, would likely have been struck down on Equal Protection grounds because it singled out college stu…
When the Maine Legislature decides how much Highway Fund money goes to the State Police, is it bound by the OPEGA report's findings on which State Police activities are highway-related?
No. The AG concluded that determining what portion of the State Police budget can be funded from the Highway Fund is a fact-based legislative judgment under Article IX, Section 19 of the Maine Constit…
Was Maine's proposed LD 275, expanding admissibility of child sexual abuse victims' hearsay statements, constitutional under Crawford v. Washington?
Likely yes, with drafting fixes. The AG concluded that LD 275 would probably survive Sixth Amendment review under Crawford and Roberts, but recommended rewriting it to track the case-law standards mor…
Could the Maine Legislature, by joint rule rather than constitutional amendment, require a two-thirds supermajority to pass legislation that exceeded statutory spending limits?
Likely unconstitutional. The Maine AG concluded that Proposed Joint Rule 219, which would have required a two-thirds vote to pass legislation exceeding statutory spending limits, conflicted with the M…
Did the final amended LD 1481, with its 75-day deadline for nullifying municipal land use permits, create an unfunded mandate by forcing towns to schedule special town meetings on citizen petitions?
More likely than not, yes. The Maine AG concluded that LD 1481 (as amended by Senate Amendment 'C' to Committee Amendment 'C') implicitly required towns to schedule special meetings on timely citizen …
Was Maine's 2006 TABOR ballot initiative, requiring 2/3 legislative votes and statewide voter approval for tax increases, constitutional under the Maine Constitution?
The Maine AG concluded that the 2006 TABOR initiative would likely fail four separate constitutional tests: (1) by requiring statewide voter approval for tax increases it surrendered the Legislature's…
Could a judge in Maine count time served as a legislator toward judicial retirement, and if the Legislature wanted to change that, would the constitutional unfunded-liability ban apply?
The Maine AG concluded that under the statutes as they stood in 2006, a judge could not count legislative service toward Maine Judicial Retirement System eligibility or benefits, there was no statutor…
Could the York County Commissioners refuse to fill a clerical position the Budget Committee had funded for the District Attorney's office?
The Maine AG concluded that York County Commissioners could not refuse to fill a position funded by the York County Budget Committee. Section 501(1) gives commissioners authority over hiring by county…
Did the Committee Amendment to LD 1481 fix the constitutional problem identified in the Maine AG's June 10, 2005 opinion?
Yes. The Maine AG concluded the proposed Committee Amendment to LD 1481 cured the constitutional issue identified in the office's June 10, 2005 opinion. By imposing the retroactivity restriction direc…
Did Maine's constitutional 50% property-tax-loss reimbursement requirement apply to personal property tax revenues, and would it apply if the Legislature repealed the personal property tax entirely?
The Maine AG concluded that Article IV, Part 3, § 23's 50% municipal-reimbursement requirement most likely applies to both real and personal property taxes. But a complete legislative repeal of the pe…
Could Maine's legislative program-evaluation office (OPEGA) lawfully review confidential child protective services case files held by DHHS?
The Maine AG concluded that OPEGA's program-evaluation function fit within the audit exceptions in both federal child-protection confidentiality statutes (42 U.S.C. § 671(a)(8)(D) and 42 U.S.C. § 5106…
After the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision allowed economic development takings, what limits did Maine law place on eminent domain, particularly for residential property?
The Maine AG explained that Kelo v. New London set a federal floor for eminent domain, not a ceiling. Maine's Constitution had its own public-use plus public-exigencies test, and Maine statutes alread…
Could Maine's Legislature pass a statute prohibiting local citizen-initiated ordinances from applying retroactively to land use projects that already had permits?
Likely unconstitutional. The Maine AG concluded that LD 1481's provision preventing citizen-initiated municipal ordinances from applying to construction projects that had already received local permit…
Browse Maine opinions by topic
Attorney general opinions in Maine are written by the Maine Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.