LAW WITHOUT
GOVERNOR'S CHAPTER
SIGNATURE
620
APRIL 17, 2022 PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
_____
H.P. 1276 - L.D. 1721
An Act Regarding Dignity for Women in Correctional Facilities
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4003, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. AA, §5 and
amended by PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. CCCC, §7, is further amended to read:
5. Report on children in department's custody and children of incarcerated
parents. Require the department to report monthly to the joint standing committees of the
Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and health and
human services matters, beginning in July 2000, on the status of children served by the
Office of Child and Family Services. The report must include, at a minimum, information
on the department's caseload case load, the location of the children in the department's
custody and the number of cases of abuse and neglect that were not opened for assessment.
This information must be identified by program and funding source. The report must also
include information on the number of children in the department's custody known to have
one or more incarcerated parents and information on the number of those children for whom
the case goal is reunification.
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §1561-A is enacted to read:
§1561-A. Transportation of female prisoners to and from medical appointments
A county jail housing female prisoners shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable
the presence of a female corrections officer during the transportation of a female prisoner
to and from a medical appointment and shall ensure that the prisoner is afforded the greatest
amount of privacy practicable during the appointment consistent with safety and security
considerations.
Sec. 3. 30-A MRSA §1651, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 482, Pt. A, §1, is
amended to read:
2. Appointment. The sheriff for each county shall appoint a board of 5 7 visitors for
each correctional facility under the sheriff's supervision.
A. Members of the boards of visitors serve for terms of one year except that, of the
initial appointments, 2 must be for terms of 3 years, 2 must be for terms of 2 years and
one must be for a term of one year.
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 B. Members of the boards of visitors are eligible for reappointment at the expiration
of their terms. The boards of visitors must be representative of a broad range of
professionals, family members and citizens interested in the well-being of prisoners,
including representatives of advocacy groups for human and civil rights, medical and
psychiatric professionals, persons who have served in corrections settings and other
interested citizens. One member of each board of visitors must be a person with
knowledge of issues related to the incarceration of women. One member of each board
of visitors must be a woman who has been incarcerated in the State and who has prior
child welfare experience with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of Child and Family Services.
C. A member of the Legislature may not serve on a board of visitors.
D. The sheriffs of 2 or more counties, at their discretion, may appoint a joint board of
visitors of 5 7 or more members.
Sec. 4. 34-A MRSA §1402, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2009, c. 1, Pt. S, §3, is
further amended to read:
5. Grievance procedures. The commissioner shall establish procedures for hearing
grievances of clients. The commissioner shall establish a separate grievance process for
addressing complaints by prisoners about their medical and mental health treatment as well
as a separate grievance process for addressing complaints regarding compliance with the
standards established pursuant to sections 1208, 1208-A and 1208-B.
Sec. 5. 34-A MRSA §3001-A, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A. Boards of visitors for women's services; membership. The Governor shall
appoint boards of visitors for women's services to inspect correctional facilities housing
female clients and, with regard to female clients, perform the duties assigned to boards of
visitors appointed pursuant to subsection 1. Boards of visitors for women's services shall
ensure that the incarceration of and services provided to female clients are designed to meet
their gender identity needs and reflect best practices established for such incarceration and
services. Boards of visitors for women's services are otherwise subject to the same
requirements and responsibilities under this section as a board of visitors appointed
pursuant to subsection 1, except that, in addition to the member described in subsection 1,
paragraph D, a board of visitors for women's services must include one member who was
formerly incarcerated in the custody of the department and who has prior child welfare
experience with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family
Services, one member who represents a health care provider that provides sexual and
reproductive health care and education, one member who is a health care practitioner who
provides sexual and reproductive health care and education to women and one member
who has an understanding of or experience with domestic violence.
Sec. 6. 34-A MRSA §3031, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2021, c. 263, §3, is further
amended to read:
8. Visitation. A reasonable opportunity to visit with relatives and friends, in
accordance with departmental policies and institutional procedures, except that the
department may restrict or prohibit visits when the restriction or prohibition is necessary
for the security of the institution. Departmental policies and institutional procedures must
provide to a person in a correctional facility or detention facility opportunities and
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conditions for visits with the child of the person that provide time together in settings that
allow for as positive a parent-child interaction as practicably can be achieved while
protecting the emotional and physical well-being of the child, as long as such visits are not
prohibited by court order, prohibited by a department policy due to the child's being a
victim of the person, contrary to the wishes of the child's other parent or guardian or
inconsistent with the security of the institution;
Sec. 7. 34-A MRSA §3039, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5. Billing. A correctional facility or detention facility may not bill an indigent client
for future payment of services and medications.
Sec. 8. 34-A MRSA §3050 is enacted to read:
§3050. Report regarding juveniles in custody
By February 1, 2023 and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the joint
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public
safety matters on the number of juveniles in the custody of the department as juvenile
detainees or juvenile clients or under department supervision on probation whose parents
or primary caregivers are known to the department to be in the custody of the department
or under the supervision of the department.
Sec. 9. 34-A MRSA §3051 is enacted to read:
§3051. Transportation of female clients to and from medical appointments
A correctional facility or detention facility housing female clients shall ensure to the
greatest extent practicable the presence of a female corrections officer during the
transportation of a female client to and from a medical appointment and shall ensure that
the client is afforded the greatest amount of privacy practicable during the appointment
consistent with safety and security considerations.
Sec. 10. Provision of contact information for Office of Child and Family
Services required. The Department of Corrections shall adopt rules to provide any
person residing in a correctional facility or detention facility in the State with the contact
information for the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family
Services as well as information on the relevance of that contact to the family reunification
provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 4041. Contact with the Office
of Child and Family Services must be provided at no cost to the person. Rules adopted
pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375,
subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 11. Publicly available information regarding persons incarcerated at
county jails; report. The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child
and Family Services shall evaluate options for obtaining publicly available information
regarding persons incarcerated at county jail facilities and, by January 31, 2024, submit a
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal
justice and public safety matters regarding its progress in obtaining that information and
any findings or recommendations based on the information. After reviewing the report, the
joint standing committee may report out legislation related to the report to the 131st
Legislature in 2024.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1721, HP 1276: 22.4003, 30-A.1651, 34-A.1402, 34-A.3031
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 620: 22.4003, 30-A.1651, 34-A.1402, 34-A.3031