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Maine Regulations § 270-1-3 MEETINGSVersion dated Oct. 30, 2024

Regulation Text

1. Regular Meetings . The Commission shall meet at least once each month in any year in which primary and general elections are held. The Commission Chair, or if a Chair has not yet been selected, the Senior Commissioner in terms of service on the Commission, shall set a date for a meeting in January of the year of required monthly meetings. The dates of monthly meetings for each month of the year shall be selected at that meeting and shall be adhered to unless changed at a properly called meeting. In years not meeting the foregoing requirements, the Chair shall call for an organization meeting to set monthly meeting dates which best appear to meet the needs of the Commission.
2. Special Meetings . The Commission may meet at any time at the call of the Secretary of State, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Commission, or a majority of its members. Each member of the Commission must have at least 24 hours notice of the time, place and purpose of the meeting in writing unless written notice is not possible. In such case, notice must be given by the staff by phone, fax, e-mail or other means available. Each Commissioner may notify the staff of his or her preference for notification and the staff shall prepare a log of its actions in notifying Commissioners.
3. Agenda . The Director will prepare a written agenda for each meeting of the Commission. The agenda will contain items of business to be considered, staff findings and recommendations, and will include the date, time and location of the meeting. The agenda must be mailed to each Commissioner at least 7 days before the meeting unless a different schedule is approved by the Chair who shall provide notice to the Commissioners of the change and the reasons therefore.
4. Notice . In addition to the public notice required by the public meetings law, 1 M.R.S.A. § 406 , notice of Commission meetings shall be given to those directly involved in a matter pending before the Commission, as follows:
A. Legislative Ethics . When a properly filed request or referral is made for an advisory opinion on a question of legislative ethics, notice that the matter has been placed on the agenda for a Commission meeting will be given by mail to the Legislator whose circumstances or conduct is at issue, or to the Presiding Officer of either House referring the inquiry. When a complaint alleging a violation of the laws on legislative ethics is filed, the Legislator will be informed promptly of the nature of the allegations and the existence of any investigation by the Commission. Notice that the matter has been placed on the agenda for a Commission hearing will be given by certified mail to both the Legislator and the complainant not less than 10 days before the date set for a hearing.
B. Campaign Reports and Finances Law; Lobbyist Disclosure Law . Notice of the Commission's consideration of any noncompliance with the requirements of the Campaign Reports and Finances Law , the Maine Clean Election Act , or Lobbyist Disclosure Law will be provided to any person or organization alleged to have committed a violation and to any person who has officially requested a Commission investigation or determination, except that notice of the Commission's consideration of issuing subpoenas to conduct an investigation need not be given.
C. Contents of Notice
(1) The notice will include the date, time, and location of the Commission meeting. If mail notice of a meeting is not feasible, the staff will make best efforts to give oral notice to Commission members or to those entitled to notice under this provision.
5. Public Meetings . All meetings, hearings or sessions of the Commission will be open to the general public unless, by an affirmative vote of at least 3 members, the Commission requires the exclusion of the public, pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 1005 or 1 M.R.S.A. § 1013 (3) .
6. Quorum . Every decision of the Commission must be made at a meeting at which at least 3 members of the Commission are present and voting. When it is impossible or impractical for a member of the Commission to travel to Augusta to attend a meeting in person, the member may participate in the meeting by telephone. That member will be considered present at the meeting and part of the quorum.
At least 2 members must be present in person for the conduct of a meeting or public hearing before the Commission. If fewer than 3 members are present in person for a hearing, however, objections to rulings of the presiding officer concerning the conduct of the hearing must be preserved until a meeting of the Commission at which a quorum is present in person. The presiding officer at a meeting or public hearing must be present in person.
7. Minutes
A. The Director will prepare minutes of each business meeting of the Commission. These minutes will be the official record of Commission meetings, and will accurately record all matters considered.
B. The minutes will record any executive session of the Commission and its subject matter, but will not report the proceedings of the executive session. Likewise, minutes will not be taken of any public hearing held by the Commission, since hearings are separately recorded.