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.
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Can the Maine Legislature impose new education requirements on local school districts without paying for them, and can it hand that authority off to the state education department?
Yes to both. AG Tierney concluded the Maine Constitution gives the Legislature broad power to legislate (including on education), and Art. VIII, Pt. 1, § 1 actually requires towns to fund schools…
Can a church claim a Maine property tax exemption for the remote mountain site where it keeps its radio station antenna, on the theory that the broadcast is an extension of its ministry?
No. Assistant AG Diane E. Doyen concluded that 36 M.R.S.A. § 652(1)(G) exempts only houses of religious worship (church edifices and parsonages), not radio transmitter sites. Maine and parallel…
When the Maine Governor fills a vacancy in a county Register of Deeds office by appointment, does the appointee have to be from the same political party as the vacating officer?
No. AG Tierney concluded 33 M.R.S.A. § 601, which governs Register of Deeds vacancies, is silent on political party. The Governor may appoint a person of any political party. In contrast, the County…
Does the Baxter State Park Authority have to get the Maine Bureau of Purchases to sign off before buying equipment or hiring contractors for the park?
No. The AG memo concluded the Park Authority is an independent trust authority, not a state department or agency, so the central purchasing approval rule in 5 M.R.S.A. § 1816 does not reach it. The…
Can the same person serve as both Supervisor of the Group Life Insurance Division of the Maine State Retirement System and as an elected employee Trustee of the Maine State Retirement System?
No. AG Tierney concluded the two offices were incompatible at common law. The Supervisor reported to the Executive Director who serves at the pleasure of the Board, so the Supervisor would be both…
Which version of Maine's Site Location Law definition of 'subdivision' should the Department of Environmental Protection use when the supplement prints two competing texts?
Use the version on page 242 of the 1988 Supplementary Pamphlet, the one enacted by P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7. Chapter 812 repealed and replaced the section without referring to the chapter 737…
When someone asks a Maine town clerk or the state Bureau of Vital Records for a death certificate, can they see the cause of death, or is that confidential?
Confidential. AG Tierney's 1989 clarification explained that the last sentence of 22 M.R.S.A. § 2706(4), added by P.L. 1973 ch. 121, makes the cause of death (and all details other than name, age,…
How was Maine's child protection system functioning in late 1988 when the state ran out of safe foster home placements for the children it had to remove from abusive or neglectful homes?
Badly. The Child Welfare AAGs for York and Cumberland counties reported to AG Tierney that the foster care shortage was forcing them and Department caseworkers to redefine 'jeopardy' downward in the…
Can the Maine Legislature raise the Governor's salary in the middle of his first term, with the raise taking effect at the start of his second term, while he is still in office?
No. Deputy AG Cabanne Howard concluded that the Maine Constitution's phrase 'continuance in office' (Art. V, Pt. 1, § 6) blocks any salary increase that would apply to a sitting Governor for as long…
Are portable classrooms that a Maine school district leases instead of owning subject to municipal property tax, and if not, does the town get reimbursed for the lost revenue?
No tax, no reimbursement. Deputy AG Crombie Garrett concluded that 20-A M.R.S.A. § 4001(3)(C) exempts property leased by school administrative units, including portable classrooms. Because the…
When the Governor appoints someone from the State Board of Education or the University of Maine System Board of Trustees to also serve on the Maine Vocational-Technical Board, does that person have to step down from the Voc-Tech Board if they lose their seat on the original board, or do they keep their four-year term?
They keep the full four-year term. AG Tierney concluded that 20-A M.R.S.A. § 12705 contemplated a fresh four-year appointment confirmed by the Legislature for each Voc-Tech trustee, including those…
If someone wins election as a Maine Probate Judge while also serving as a member of the Maine Labor Relations Board, can they hold both positions at once?
No. AG Tierney concluded that Article VI, Section 5 of the Maine Constitution bars 'any Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court or any other court' from holding office under the United States or any…
Did the Maine State Board of Education have legal authority to require previously certified veteran teachers to earn three credits in special-education training, raise major and minor credit-hour requirements, and apply these new rules without violating teachers' due process rights or the Interstate Compact on Qualifications of Educational Personnel?
Yes. AG Tierney concluded that 20-A M.R.S.A. ch. 502's rulemaking grant in § 13011(1) covered the State Board's exceptionality requirement and the new credit-hour standards, both of which apply only…
Does the State of Maine guarantee the obligations of the SEED Plan to pay college tuition for plan beneficiaries, and if so, does that guarantee fit within the Maine Constitution's $2,000,000 limit on unbonded long-term debt?
Half yes, half no. Asst. AG Jeffrey Frankel concluded that 20-A M.R.S.A. § 12604 made the State a contractual party to each advance tuition payment contract. But once the cumulative value of those…
How does the Maine Tort Claims Act, state purchasing law, and corporate-formality framework apply to Maine's new Student Educational Enhancement Deposit (SEED) prepaid-tuition plan and its directors?
Asst. AG Jeffrey Frankel advised that SEED directors and officers were very likely covered by the Maine Tort Claims Act, while federal-law claims remained possible. Michigan's IRS ruling could not…
When an electric utility wants to install a new line through Maine's unorganized territories (the area regulated by LURC), does the utility need a Land Use Regulation Commission permit?
It depends on whether the line follows a public way. Asst. AG Jeffrey Pidot concluded that a major new utility installation generally needs a LURC permit, but 35-A M.R.S.A. §§ 2502-2503 give…
Can a Maine regional planning commission's executive board include members who weren't appointed by a member municipality?
No, based on this opinion. While a regional planning commission may create a smaller subordinate executive board to handle day-to-day operations, every member of that board must also be a member of…
Does Baxter State Park have to get state procurement approval before making purchases, like other Maine state agencies?
No, based on this memo. Because Baxter State Park was created by Governor Percival Baxter's deeds of trust and is managed by an independent Authority funded from its own trust account rather than as…
Could a Maine law requiring pension trustees to divest from companies in Northern Ireland override their fiduciary duty to invest prudently?
No, based on this opinion. LD 2008 required the Maine State Retirement System's trustees to encourage MacBride Principles compliance and, after mid-1992, prefer divestment from noncompliant Northern…
Could Maine require a 150-foot buffer zone around farmland where pesticides are used without it being an unconstitutional taking?
Probably not unconstitutional, according to this opinion. The Attorney General concluded that a proposed bill creating a 150-foot setback around registered farmland using agricultural chemicals was…
Could Penobscot Nation members use gill nets to catch Atlantic salmon for personal food within the reservation?
Yes, on the facts presented in 1988. The AG concluded that Penobscot Nation members could use gill nets within the reservation to take about twenty Atlantic salmon for their own consumption.
Could Maine condemn an unsafe or unreliable private rail line and transfer its operation to another railroad?
The AG found no general federal constitutional barrier to Maine condemning an unsafe, unreliable, or inefficient rail line. To reduce Fifth Amendment public-use concerns, the opinion suggested that…
Must a proposed Maine Public Utilities Commission member recuse from cases in which he previously worked as a utility consultant?
Yes, for proceedings tied directly to his prior consulting work. The AG concluded that the proposed commissioner had to recuse from the pending Hydro-Quebec and telephone-cost matters, plus certain…
Would Maine's proposed farmland registration and setback bill create an unconstitutional taking of neighboring property?
Probably not. The Maine Attorney General's Office viewed the proposed registration and setback system as a land-use regulation, not a transfer of property rights, and said a taking would generally…
Did Maine's Student Educational Enhancement Deposit Plan need separate incorporation, and did its contracts require competitive bidding?
The SEED Plan's corporate status was self-implementing, so it did not need a filing with the Secretary of State. Because it was also a state agency, its goods and services contracts were subject to…
Could Maine make a Tri-State Lottery number limit effective only if New Hampshire and Vermont passed matching laws?
Yes. The Maine Attorney General concluded that conditioning the lottery amendment on matching legislation in New Hampshire and Vermont did not delegate Maine's legislative power because the other…
Could Maine prohibit tobacco companies from sponsoring community, sporting, recreational, or civic events?
No. The Maine Attorney General concluded that the proposed sponsorship ban was preempted because the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act expressly barred state requirements or…
Did land identified for possible Maine Indian Territory lose eligibility when its 1980 owner sold it to someone else?
No. The Maine Attorney General concluded that the owner names in section 6205 merely identified the eligible parcels as they existed in 1980. Later transfers did not remove those parcels from…
Could Maine's Deputy Secretary of State also serve on the Maine Turnpike Authority?
Yes. The Maine Attorney General concluded that the Deputy Secretary of State and Maine Turnpike Authority positions were not incompatible because neither office regulated or exercised meaningful…
Were Maine regional planning commissions subject to public-meeting and public-records requirements?
Yes. The Maine Attorney General concluded that regional planning commissions were political or administrative subdivisions covered by the Freedom of Access Law, so their meetings and records were…
Would Maine's proposed 1987 civil anti-strikebreaker law have been preempted by federal labor law?
The Attorney General could not conclude that LD 1690 would be preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. Because Supreme Court doctrine did not clearly resolve a law limited to professional…
In 1987, did Maine have to bargain over standards for creating state job classifications?
No. The Maine Attorney General concluded that standards for preparing state job-classification specifications were not a mandatory subject of collective bargaining under the law as it then stood. A…
In 1987, did Maine chiropractic applicants need degrees from specially accredited chiropractic colleges?
Yes. The Maine Attorney General concluded that applicants who matriculated on or after January 1, 1984 had to graduate from a college accredited by a specialized chiropractic educational accrediting…
Could Maine deny an amusement-device permit because a purchasing group's insurer lacked a Maine license?
No. The Maine AG concluded that federal law preempted permit denial based on the purchasing group's insurer failing Maine licensure rules, if the group filed notice and the insurer was licensed in…
Would a proposed individual right to bear arms prevent Maine from reasonably regulating weapons?
Probably not. The Maine AG tentatively concluded that either proposed amendment was unlikely to invalidate weapons laws reasonably related to public health, safety, and welfare.
Could Maine's former Finance Commissioner become State Auditor and audit his former department?
Yes. The Maine AG found no incompatible-office or financial-interest bar. The opinion said personal recusal from the prior department's audit was not legally required but could reduce appearance concerns.
Could the Maine Legislature amend Aroostook County's proposed budget instead of only approving or rejecting it?
Yes. The Maine AG concluded that the Legislature retained full authority over the county budget and could amend it, because an earlier statute could not bind a later Legislature's lawmaking procedure.
Did a Maine school-district director elected to fill a vacancy receive a full new term?
No. The Maine AG concluded that the replacement director served only the remainder of the prior director's term, even if the election purported to grant a full term.
Could the Maine Legislature rewrite the ballot question for a citizen initiative on electric power and high-level radioactive waste?
No. In 1987, the Attorney General's office said the Legislature lacked authority under the Maine Constitution to alter the ballot question for the pending citizen initiative.
Could Maine subtract the full veterans property-tax exemption from each town's assessed value without adjusting for local assessment ratios?
No. The AG concluded in 1987 that applying the full exemption to each town's assessed value would give veterans with equally valuable property different proportional tax burdens, violating Maine's…
Could a Maine legislator also work as an independent-contractor mediator for the state court system?
Yes. The AG concluded in 1987 that a legislator could serve as an independent-contractor court mediator because mediators exercised no judicial power, held no office of profit, and had no…
Could Aroostook County contract with a private corporation to operate and manage its county jail without new legislation?
No. The AG concluded in 1986 that existing Maine law assigned jail duties to county commissioners and required the sheriff or a deputy to keep the jail, so the private management contract was beyond…
Which of three Maine laws amending the same legislative-notice rule for agency rulemaking took effect?
All three. The AG concluded in 1986 that the same-session amendments were compatible and reflected no intent to displace one another, so courts would give each legal effect.
Could the Baxter State Park Authority accept private gifts and donations for the park?
Yes, through the Governor's acceptance or authorization. The gift had to conform to Governor Baxter's trusts, carry no conflicting or memorial condition, remain under the Authority's control, and be…
Could the Maine Senate confirm several executive or judicial nominees in one vote?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Senate could vote on several nominations together when every senator's yea or nay was recorded, and a senator could ask to remove an opposed nominee for a separate vote.
Did Maine's April 1 party-enrollment deadline apply to a write-in candidate in a party primary?
The AG concluded that the unclear statutes did not impose the April 1 enrollment deadline on a primary write-in candidate. A candidate changing parties still had to complete the separate three-month…
Could Maine use Portland cargo-terminal bond proceeds to improve the city's International Ferry Terminal?
Yes. Because the terminal handled cargo-bearing trucks and the proposed work improved its cargo capacity, the AG concluded that the project fit both the bond law's general transportation purpose and…
Did Maine's 1986 statutory-errors bill restore a local filing requirement for school-construction referenda?
No. The later errors bill integrated two earlier amendments but expressly identified only those provisions, so it did not repeal a separate amendment exempting school-construction referenda from the…
When Maine lawyers direct IOLTA interest to the Bar Foundation, who has the legal right to that interest?
Under the IOLTA arrangement described in the 1986 opinion, the Maine Bar Foundation alone was entitled to the account interest when a lawyer designated it as the recipient. Clients retained their…
Can a Maine town force the state to cancel a shoreline waterskiing waiver it previously requested?
No. The AG concluded that a town’s request to revoke the waiver did not oblige the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to cancel it. He could keep it if he believed the waiver still…
Could Maine school districts use teacher block grants for raises above the state minimums?
Yes. The AG concluded that districts could use the 1986 teacher salary block grants for across-the-board raises even after meeting the state’s minimum salary targets. The statute also allowed other…
Could Maine authorize the Passamaquoddy Water District to take groundwater from Pembroke?
The AG concluded that L.D. 2299 was constitutional and would expressly authorize the district to obtain water from a specified Pembroke source. The opinion said the district’s earlier authority to…
Could a Maine state contractor's executive director run for the Legislature without a conflict of interest?
The AG said that providing contractual services to a state agency did not, by itself, bar a person from running for or serving in the Maine Legislature in 1986. Once elected, the person would be…
Could Penobscot or Passamaquoddy land still become Indian territory after Maine's 1988 acquisition deadline?
Yes, under the statute as the AG read it in 1986. Section 6205(5) supplied a separate route for land acquired by the Penobscot Nation or Passamaquoddy Tribe to become Indian territory after the…
Would Maine’s 1986 proposal to criminalize promoting obscene material survive a constitutional challenge?
The Maine AG concluded that L.D. 2092 would be constitutional on its face. The opinion cautioned that prosecutions would still have to apply its presumptions without shifting the burden of proof…
Could Maine legislators rewrite a ballot question the Secretary of State drafted for a citizen initiative?
The AG concluded in 1986 that Maine's Legislature could not intervene to rewrite the Secretary of State's ballot question for a specific initiated measure. The opinion read the Constitution as…
Could Maine lawmakers put an initiative they did not enact on the June 1986 primary ballot instead of waiting until November?
Yes. The AG concluded that a majority of each legislative house could order a special referendum alongside the June 1986 primary; the order did not require the Governor's approval or a 90-day…
Could Maine require a year of service before age-60 retirement for pension members who joined before the 1981 change?
Yes. The AG concluded that the one-year service requirement did not unconstitutionally upset pre-1981 members' reasonable pension expectations, whether they were state workers, teachers, or…
Could Maine automatically certify permitted hydroelectric projects under the Clean Water Act even if they missed water quality standards?
No. In 1986, the AG said mandatory certification under proposed L.D. 2107 would conflict with the Clean Water Act for a project that failed existing EPA-approved standards, unless EPA approved a…
Could Maine plantations join a municipal tax base sharing agreement under the law in 1986?
Yes. The AG concluded that the tax base sharing chapter used a general definition of municipality that included plantations, so a proposed bill to add them would only clarify existing law.
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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.