APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 10, 2025 239
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
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H.P. 580 - L.D. 915
An Act to Modernize Deed Duplication from Microfilm to a Digital Image
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 33 MRSA §651, 3rd ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 2003, c. 55, §1, is
amended to read:
The register shall prepare, or have prepared, a microfilm record of each page of every
instrument, plan or other document recorded in the registry office. The microfilm record
made must be stored in a fireproof area and a digital image stored on magnetic or optical
media. When original record books or plans are considered by the register to be in a
condition that warrants withdrawal from regular use, the register may make a true copy of
the contents of the record or may provide suitable means for reading the microfilm,
microfiche or digital image stored on magnetic or optical media of the instruments
withdrawn. The records and certified copies made either from the true copy or from images
stored as provided in this section must be received in all courts of law with the same legal
effect as those contained in the original.
Sec. 2. 33 MRSA §652, 3rd ¶, as amended by PL 2019, c. 439, §1, is further
amended to read:
Paper plans submitted for recording must be rolled and not folded. The register may
return plans that are not legible for recording and archival purposes and the processing of
which may damage county equipment or resources. The register shall permanently file the
original, create a digital image of the plan at a minimum of 300 dots per inch or 300 pixels
per inch and maintain a copy for public inspection in paper or digital image form. Each
plan must be microfilmed maintained as a digital image stored on magnetic or optical media
for archival purposes. Each register shall maintain an index of all plans on record in the
register's office.
Page 1 - 132LR0565(03)


Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 239: 33.651, 33.652