Maine Code § 16-703

Definitions
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As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the
following meanings. [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
1. Administration of criminal justice. "Administration of criminal justice" means activities
relating to the apprehension or summonsing, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution,
adjudication, sentencing, correctional custody and supervision or rehabilitation of accused persons or
convicted criminal offenders. "Administration of criminal justice" includes the collection, storage and
dissemination of criminal history record information.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
2. Confidential criminal history record information. "Confidential criminal history record
information" means criminal history record information of the following types:
A. Unless the person remains a fugitive from justice, summons and arrest information without
disposition if an interval of more than one year has elapsed since the date the person was
summonsed or arrested and no active prosecution of a criminal charge stemming from the summons
or arrest is pending; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
B. Information disclosing that the responsible law enforcement agency or officer has elected not
to refer a matter to a prosecutor; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
C. Information disclosing that the responsible prosecutorial office or prosecutor has elected not to
initiate or approve criminal proceedings; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
D. Information disclosing that a grand jury has determined that there is insufficient evidence to
warrant the return of a formal charge; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
E. Information disclosing that a criminal proceeding has been postponed for a period of more than
one year or dismissed because the person charged is found by the court to be mentally incompetent
to stand trial or to be sentenced; [PL 2013, c. 507, §1 (AMD).]

F. Information disclosing that a criminal charge has been filed, if more than one year has elapsed
since the date of the filing; [PL 2013, c. 507, §2 (AMD).]
G. Information disclosing that a criminal charge has been dismissed by a court with prejudice or
dismissed with finality by a prosecutor other than as part of a plea agreement; [PL 2013, c. 267,
Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
H. Information disclosing that a person has been acquitted of a criminal charge. A verdict or
accepted plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity, or its equivalent, is not an
acquittal of the criminal charge; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
I. Information disclosing that a criminal proceeding has terminated in a mistrial with prejudice;
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
J. Information disclosing that a criminal proceeding has terminated based on lack of subject matter
jurisdiction; [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
K. Information disclosing that a criminal proceeding has been terminated because the court lacked
jurisdiction over the defendant; and [PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
L. Information disclosing that a person has petitioned for and been granted a full and free pardon.
[PL 2017, c. 432, Pt. B, §1 (AMD).]
[PL 2017, c. 432, Pt. B, §1 (AMD).]
3. Criminal history record information. "Criminal history record information" means
information of record collected by a criminal justice agency or at the direction of a criminal justice
agency or kept in the custody of a criminal justice agency that connects a specific, identifiable person,
including a juvenile treated by statute as an adult for criminal prosecution purposes, with formal
involvement in the criminal justice system either as an accused or as a convicted criminal offender.
"Criminal history record information" includes, but is not limited to, identifiable descriptions or
notations of: summonses and arrests; detention; bail; formal criminal charges such as complaints,
informations and indictments; any disposition stemming from such charges; post-plea or post-
adjudication sentencing; involuntary commitment; execution of and completion of any sentencing
alternatives imposed; release and discharge from involuntary commitment; any related pretrial and
post-trial appeals, collateral attacks and petitions; and petitions for and warrants of pardons,
commutations, reprieves and amnesties. "Criminal history record information" does not include:
identification information such as fingerprints, palmprints, footprints or photographic records to the
extent that the information does not indicate formal involvement of the specific individual in the
criminal justice system; information of record of civil proceedings, including traffic infractions and
other civil violations; intelligence and investigative record information as defined in section 803; or
information of record of juvenile crime proceedings or their equivalent. Specific information regarding
a juvenile crime proceeding is not criminal history record information notwithstanding that a juvenile
has been bound over and treated as an adult or that by statute specific information regarding a juvenile
crime proceeding is usable in a subsequent adult criminal proceeding. "Formal involvement in the
criminal justice system either as an accused or as a convicted criminal offender" means being within
the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system commencing with arrest, summons or initiation of formal
criminal charges and concluding with the completion of every sentencing alternative imposed as
punishment or final discharge from an involuntary commitment based upon a finding of not criminally
responsible by reason of insanity or its equivalent.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
4. Criminal justice agency. "Criminal justice agency" means a federal, state or State of Maine
government agency or any subunit of a government agency at any governmental level that performs the
administration of criminal justice pursuant to a statute or executive order. "Criminal justice agency"
includes federal courts, Maine courts, courts in any other state, the Department of the Attorney General,
district attorneys' offices and the equivalent departments or offices in any federal or state jurisdiction.

"Criminal justice agency" also includes any equivalent agency at any level of Canadian government
and the government of any federally recognized Indian tribe.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
5. Disposition. "Disposition" means information of record disclosing that a criminal proceeding
has been concluded, although not necessarily finalized, and the specific nature of the concluding event.
"Disposition" includes, but is not limited to: an acquittal; a dismissal, with or without prejudice; the
filing of a charge by agreement of the parties or by a court; the determination that a defendant is
currently a fugitive from justice; a conviction, including the acceptance by a court of a plea of guilty or
nolo contendere; a deferred disposition; a proceeding indefinitely continued or dismissed due to a
defendant's incompetence; a finding of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity or its equivalent;
a mistrial, with or without prejudice; a new trial ordered; an arrest of judgment; a sentence imposition;
a resentencing ordered; an execution of and completion of any sentence alternatives imposed, including
but not limited to fines, restitution, correctional custody and supervision, and administrative release; a
release or discharge from a commitment based upon a finding of not criminally responsible by reason
of insanity or its equivalent; the death of the defendant; any related pretrial and post-trial appeals,
collateral attacks and petitions; a pardon, commutation, reprieve or amnesty; and extradition.
"Disposition" also includes information of record disclosing that the responsible law enforcement
agency or officer has elected not to refer a matter to a prosecutor, that the responsible prosecutorial
office or prosecutor has elected not to initiate or approve criminal proceedings or that a grand jury has
determined that there is insufficient evidence to warrant the return of a formal charge.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
6. Dissemination. "Dissemination" means the transmission of information by any means,
including but not limited to orally, in writing or electronically, by or to anyone outside the criminal
justice agency that maintains the information.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
7. Executive order. "Executive order" means an order of the President of the United States or the
chief executive of a state that has the force of law and that is published in a manner permitting regular
public access.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
8. Public criminal history record information. "Public criminal history record information"
means criminal history record information that is not confidential criminal history record information,
including information recorded pursuant to section 706.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
9. State. "State" means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States
Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa. "State" also includes the federal government of Canada
and any provincial government of Canada and the government of any federally recognized Indian tribe.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]
10. Statute. "Statute" means an Act of Congress or an act of a state legislature or a provision of
the Constitution of the United States or the constitution of a state.
[PL 2013, c. 267, Pt. A, §2 (NEW).]

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