Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
                  FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document                                                                         No. 348
H.P. 246                                                   House of Representatives, February 8, 2021
           An Act To Give Oversight Powers to the Maine Commission on
           Indigent Legal Services
   Received by the Clerk of the House on February 4, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Judiciary pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
                                                                                 ROBERT B. HUNT
                                                                                            Clerk
Presented by Representative EVANGELOS of Friendship.
                                       Printed on recycled paper
 1   Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
 2       Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶D, as amended by PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. RRR, §1
 3   and affected by §4, is further amended to read:
 4       D. Adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Rules adopted pursuant to this
 5       paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A,
 6       except that rules adopted to establish standards under subsection 2, paragraph B and
 7       rates of compensation for assigned counsel and contract counsel under subsection 2,
 8       paragraph F are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter
 9       2-A; and
10       Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶E, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 419, §2, is amended
11   to read:
12       E. Appear in court and before other administrative bodies represented by its own
13       attorneys.; and
14       Sec. 3. 4 MRSA §1804, sub-§4, ¶F is enacted to read:
15       F. Remove an attorney from a roster when the commission determines, after notice
16       and hearing, that the attorney has violated the law or a standard adopted by the
17       commission.
18                                          SUMMARY
19        Currently there is no process for the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services to
20   remove an attorney from the roster of attorneys qualified to provide legal services. This
21   bill authorizes the commission to remove an attorney from a roster when the commission
22   determines, after notice and hearing, that the attorney violated the law or a standard adopted
23   by the commission.
                                         Page 1 - 130LR1379(01)
Statutes affected: 
Bill Text LD 348, HP 246: 4.1804