APPROVED CHAPTER
APRIL 22, 2024 175
BY GOVERNOR RESOLVES
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
_____
H.P. 1480 - L.D. 2291
Resolve, Approving the 2024 Draft and Arrangement of the Constitution of
Maine Incorporating Amendments Approved at Referendum in 2023 and
Providing for Its Publication and Distribution
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, 2 amendments to the Constitution of Maine were approved by the voters at
referendum in November 2023; and
Whereas, pursuant to Resolve 2023, chapter 127, the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Judicial Court was authorized to arrange the Constitution of Maine to include the 2
amendments approved at the November 2023 referendum and submit the arrangement to
the Legislature; and
Whereas, the Chief Justice has completed the arrangement; and
Whereas, the arrangement as approved by the Legislature must be made available to
the public as soon as possible and before the expiration of the 90-day period; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now,
therefore, be it
Sec. 1. Constitution; approval of 2024 draft and arrangement; enrollment;
distribution. Resolved: That the draft and arrangement of the Constitution of Maine,
as amended, made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court pursuant to the
Constitution of Maine, Article X, Section 6 and Resolve 2023, chapter 127 is approved and
that the same be enrolled on parchment or other suitable material and deposited in the office
of the Secretary of State.
Sec. 2. Enrollment on durable material. Resolved: That the Secretary of State
shall cause the Constitution of Maine, as amended and arranged, to be enrolled on
parchment or other suitable material and upon final approval of the Chief Justice of the
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Supreme Judicial Court to attest to the correctness of that enrollment under the seal of the
State.
Sec. 3. Publication. Resolved: That the Secretary of State shall cause to be
published in pamphlet form, subject to the approval of the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Judicial Court, copies of the Constitution of Maine in such numbers as the Secretary of
State determines necessary and that one copy of the pamphlet be forwarded to the municipal
officers of each city and town and to the assessors of each plantation within the State.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation
takes effect when approved.
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 APPENDIX A
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE
(Arranged by the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court
pursuant to the Constitution of Maine, Article X, Section 6
and Resolves 2023, c. 127, with 2024 Rearrangement Notes)
(Includes CR 2023, c. 1 and CR. 2023, c. 2)
PREAMBLE.
Objects of government. We the people of Maine, in order to establish justice,
insure tranquility, provide for our mutual defense, promote our common welfare, and
secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty, acknowledging with
grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an
opportunity, so favorable to the design; and, imploring God's aid and direction in its
accomplishment, do agree to form ourselves into a free and independent State, by the
style and title of the State of Maine and do ordain and establish the following
Constitution for the government of the same.
Article I.
Declaration of Rights.
Section 1. Natural rights. All people are born equally free and independent,
and have certain natural, inherent and unalienable rights, among which are those of
enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property,
and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.
Section 2. Power inherent in people. All power is inherent in the people; all
free governments are founded in their authority and instituted for their benefit; they
have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to
alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require it.
Section 3. Religious freedom; sects equal; religious tests prohibited;
religious teachers. All individuals have a natural and unalienable right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no person shall
be hurt, molested or restrained in that person's liberty or estate for worshipping God in
the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of that person's own conscience,
nor for that person's religious professions or sentiments, provided that that person does
not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others in their religious worship; -- and all
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persons demeaning themselves peaceably, as good members of the State, shall be
equally under the protection of the laws, and no subordination nor preference of any
one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law, nor shall any
religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust, under this State; and
all religious societies in this State, whether incorporate or unincorporate, shall at all
times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contracting with
them for their support and maintenance.
Section 4. Freedom of speech and publication; libel; truth given in
evidence; jury determines law and fact. Every citizen may freely speak, write and
publish sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty; no
laws shall be passed regulating or restraining the freedom of the press; and in
prosecutions for any publication respecting the official conduct of people in public
capacity, or the qualifications of those who are candidates for the suffrages of the
people, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof
may be given in evidence, and in all indictments for libels, the jury, after having
received the direction of the court, shall have a right to determine, at their discretion,
the law and the fact.
Section 5. Unreasonable searches prohibited. The people shall be secure in
their persons, houses, papers and possessions from all unreasonable searches and
seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue
without a special designation of the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be
seized, nor without probable cause -- supported by oath or affirmation.
Section 6. Rights of persons accused. In all criminal prosecutions, the
accused shall have a right to be heard by the accused and counsel to the accused, or
either, at the election of the accused;
To demand the nature and cause of the accusation, and have a copy thereof;
To be confronted by the witnesses against the accused;
To have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in favor of the accused;
To have a speedy, public and impartial trial, and, except in trials by martial law
or impeachment, by a jury of the vicinity. The accused shall not be compelled to furnish
or give evidence against himself or herself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, property or
privileges, but by judgment of that person's peers or the law of the land.
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 Section 6-A. Discrimination against persons prohibited. No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal
protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person's civil rights or be
discriminated against in the exercise thereof.
Section 7. No person to answer to certain crimes but on indictment;
exceptions; juries. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime,
unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment,
or in such cases of offenses, as are usually cognizable by a justice of the peace, or in
cases arising in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war
or public danger. The Legislature shall provide by law a suitable and impartial mode
of selecting juries, and their usual number and unanimity, in indictments and
convictions, shall be held indispensable.
Section 8. No double jeopardy. No person, for the same offense, shall be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.
Section 9. Sanguinary laws, excessive bail, cruel or unusual punishments
prohibited. Sanguinary laws shall not be passed; all penalties and punishments shall
be proportioned to the offense; excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted.
Section 10. Bailable offenses; habeas corpus. No person before conviction
shall be bailable for any of the crimes which now are, or have been denominated capital
offenses since the adoption of the Constitution, when the proof is evident or the
presumption great, whatever the punishment of the crimes may be. And the privilege
of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion
or invasion the public safety may require it.
Section 11. Attainder, ex post facto and contract-impairment laws
prohibited. The Legislature shall pass no bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor law
impairing the obligation of contracts, and no attainder shall work corruption of blood
nor forfeiture of estate.
Section 12. Treason; testimony of 2 witnesses. Treason against this State
shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and
comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of 2 witnesses
to the same overt act, or confession in open court.
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 Section 13. Suspension of laws. The laws shall not be suspended but by the
Legislature or its authority.
Section 14. Corporal punishment under military law. No person shall be
subject to corporal punishment under military law, except such as are employed in the
army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger.
Section 15. Right of petition. The people have a right at all times in an orderly
and peaceable manner to assemble to consult upon the common good, to give
instructions to their representatives, and to request, of either department of the
government by petition or remonstrance, redress of their wrongs and grievances.
Section 16. To keep and bear arms. Every citizen has a right to keep and
bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.
Section 17. Standing armies. No standing army shall be kept up in time of
peace without the consent of the Legislature, and the military shall, in all cases, and at
all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power.
Section 18. Quartering of soldiers on citizens. No soldier shall in time of
peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in
time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Section 19. Right of redress for injuries. Every person, for an injury inflicted
on the person or the person's reputation, property or immunities, shall have remedy by
due course of law; and right and justice shall be administered freely and without sale,
completely and without denial, promptly and without delay.
Section 20. Trial by jury. In all civil suits, and in all controversies concerning
property, the parties shall have a right to a trial by jury, except in cases where it has
heretofore been otherwise practiced; the party claiming the right may be heard by
himself or herself and with counsel, or either, at the election of the party.
Section 21. Private property, when to be taken. Private property shall not
be taken for public uses without just compensation; nor unless the public exigencies
require it.
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 Section 22. Taxes. No tax or duty shall be imposed without the consent of the
people or of their representatives in the Legislature.
Section 23. Title of nobility prohibited; tenure of offices. No title of nobility
or hereditary distinction, privilege, honor or emolument, shall ever be granted or
confirmed, nor shall any office be created, the appointment to which shall be for a
longer time than during good behavior.
Section 24. Other rights not impaired. The enumeration of certain rights
shall not impair nor deny others retained by the people.
Section 25. Right to food. All individuals have a natural, inherent and
unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right
to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their
own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being, as long as an individual
does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching or other abuses of private property rights,
public lands or natural resources in the harvesting, production or acquisition of food.
Article II.
Electors.
Section 1. Qualifications of electors; written ballot; military servicemen;
students. Every citizen of the United States of the age of 18 years and upwards,
excepting persons under guardianship for reasons of mental illness, having his or her
residence established in this State, shall be an elector for Governor, Senators and
Representatives, in the city, town or plantation where his or her residence has been
established, if he or she continues to reside in this State; and the elections shall be by
written ballot. But persons in the military, naval or marine service of the United States,
or this State, shall not be considered as having obtained such established residence by
being stationed in any garrison, barrack or military place, in any city, town or
plantation; nor shall the residence of a student at any seminary of learning entitle the
student to the right of suffrage in the city, town or plantation where such seminary is
established. No person, however, shall be deemed to have lost residence by reason of
the person's absence from the state in the military service of the United States, or of this
State.
Indians. Every Indian, residing on tribal reservations and otherwise qualified,
shall be an elector in all county, state and national elections.
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 Section 2. Electors exempt from arrests on election days. Electors shall, in
all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the
days of election, during their attendance at, going to, and returning therefrom.
Section 3. Exemption from military duty. No elector shall be obliged to do
duty in the militia on any day of election, except in time of war or public danger.
Section 4. Time of state election; absentee voting. The election of Senators
and Representatives shall be on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November
biennially forever and the election of Governor shall be on the Tuesday following the
first Monday of November every 4 years. The Legislature under proper enactment shall
authorize and provide for voting by citizens of the State absent therefrom in the Armed
Forces of the United States or of this State and for voting by other citizens absent or
physically incapacitated for reasons deemed sufficient.
Section 5. Voting machines. Voting machines, or other mechanical devices
for voting, may be used at all elections under such regulations as may be prescribed by
law, provided, however, the right of secret voting shall be preserved.
Article III.
Distribution of Powers.
Section 1. Powers distributed. The powers of this government shall be
divided into 3 distinct departments, the legislative, executive and judicial.
Section 2. To be kept separate. No person or persons, belonging to one of
these departments, shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the
others, except in the cases herein expressly directed or permitted.
Article IV.
Part First.
House of Representatives.
Section 1. Legislative department; style of acts. The legislative power shall
be vested in 2 distinct branches, a House of Representatives, and a Senate, each to have
a negative on the other, and both to be styled the Legislature of Maine, but the people
reserve to themselves power to propose laws and to enact or reject the same at the polls
independent of the Legislature, and also reserve power at their own option to approve
or reject at the polls any Act, bill, resolve or resolution passed by the joint action of
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both branches of the Legislature, and the style of their laws and Acts shall be, "Be it
enacted by the people of the State of Maine."
Section 2. Number of Representatives; biennial terms; division of the State
into districts for House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall
consist of 151 members, to be elected by the qualified electors, and hold their office 2
years from the day next preceding the fi