Maine Revised Statutes > Title 1 > Chapter 25 – Governmental Ethics
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
| Sections | ||
|---|---|---|
| Subchapter 1 | Statement of Purpose | 1001 – 1009 |
| Subchapter 2 | Legislative Ethics | 1011 – 1024 |
| Subchapter 3 | Gubernatorial Transition | 1051 |
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes > Title 1 > Chapter 25 - Governmental Ethics
- accumulated contributions: includes as much of the employer's contribution in the Retirement Allowance Fund as is needed to reach 7. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
- Actuarial equivalent: means an amount of equal value when computed at the discount rate contained in actuarial assumptions adopted by the board. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
- Actuary: means the individual or the organization designated by the board to be the technical advisor to the board under section 17107. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
- Adult education: means education programs primarily operated for individuals beyond the compulsory school ages and administered by school administrative units. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1
- Advertisement: means all representations, other than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, relating to seed within the meaning of this subchapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042
- Affiliated unit: means a school administrative unit that is affiliated with another school administrative unit that operates a center. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A
- Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
- Agricultural seeds: shall include the seeds of grass, forage, cereal and fiber crops and any other kinds of seeds commonly recognized within this State as agricultural or field seeds, and mixtures of such seeds, except seeds of cereals grown in Maine and sold directly from grower to grower and not labeled as seed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
- Associated organization: means any organization in which a Legislator or a member of the Legislator's immediate family is a managerial employee, director, officer or trustee or owns or controls, directly or indirectly, and severally or in the aggregate, at least 10% of the outstanding equity. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Average personal income growth: means the average for the prior 10 calendar years, ending with the most recent calendar year for which data is available, of the percent change in personal income in this State, as estimated by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 1531
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Beneficiary: means a person or persons designated by a member to receive a benefit under this Part or a person otherwise entitled to receive a benefit under this Part. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
- Benefit: means any payment made, or required to be made, to a beneficiary under chapter 423, subchapter V or chapter 425, subchapter V. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001
- Biennial base year appropriation: means :
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 1531Board: means the board of trustees, established under section 12004?F, subsection 9, to administer the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Budget failure: means the failure of a region, by August 1st of any fiscal year, to approve a budget for the region that is at least equal to the sum of the total allocations for career and technical education of the member school administrative units in the region. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A Career and technical education: means a course or program of education designed to create or improve job-related skills that is part of a secondary school or middle school level curriculum and approved by the commissioner according to this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A Center: means an administrative entity established pursuant to this chapter that provides career and technical education to secondary students and middle school level students. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A Chief executive officer: means the Chief Executive Officer of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Close economic association: means the employers, employees, partners or clients of the Legislator or a member of the Legislator's immediate family; corporations in which the Legislator or a member of the Legislator's immediate family is an officer, director or agent or owns 10% or more of the outstanding capital stock; a business which is a significant unsecured creditor of the Legislator or a member of the Legislator's immediate family; or a business of which the Legislator or a member of the Legislator's immediate family is a significant unsecured creditor. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Code: means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Commission: means the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Commission: means the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1051 Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's designee. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 1531 Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action. Community school district: means a state-approved unit of school administration composed of more than one municipality or school administrative district which may provide public education for any combination of kindergarten through grade 12. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Cooperative board: means the governing body with statutory powers and duties for a career and technical education region. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff. Creditable service: means a person's membership service, the person's prior service and service for which credit is allowable under sections 17755 and 17756; section 17760, subsection 3; section 18258; sections 18355 and 18356; and section 18360, subsection 2. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Cross-contamination: means the unintentional transfer and incorporation of genetic material between a genetically engineered crop, by cross-pollination or other means, and a nongenetically engineered crop or a wild plant population. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Department: means any department, commission, institution or agency of State Government including the Maine Community College System. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Domestic partner: means one of 2 unmarried adults who are domiciled together under long-term arrangements that evidence a commitment to remain responsible indefinitely for each other's welfare. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72 Earnable compensation: includes :
(1) Workers' compensation benefits;
(2) Maintenance, if any;
(3) Any money paid by an employer to a 3rd party under a tax sheltered annuity contract or a deferred compensation plan for the future benefit of an employee provided that the money is not derived from amounts excluded from earnable compensation by paragraph B; and
(4) Pick-up contributions. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001Employee: means a person in any employment position, including public or private employment, employment with a nonprofit, religious, charitable or educational organization, or any other compensated service under an expressed, implied, oral or written contract for hire, but does not include a self-employed person. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Employee: means :
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business. Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it. General Fund revenue shortfall: means the amount by which the General Fund appropriation limitation established by section 1534 exceeds baseline General Fund revenue and other available resources in each state fiscal year. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 1531 Genetically engineered: means the application of in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or the fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family, that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombinant barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Gift: means anything of value, including forgiveness of an obligation or debt, given to a person without that person providing equal or greater consideration to the giver. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Governor-elect: means the candidate for the office of Governor elected at the most recent general election. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1051 Grantee: means the person to whom a freehold estate or interest in land is conveyed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72 Highway purposes: means use as a town way and those things incidental to the laying out, construction, improvement, maintenance, change of location, alignment and drainage of town ways, including the securing of materials therefor; provision for the health, welfare and safety of the public using town ways; provision for parking places, rest areas and preservation of scenic beauty along town ways. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 3021 Honorarium: means a payment of money or anything with a monetary resale value to a Legislator for an appearance or a speech by the Legislator. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Immediate family: means a Legislator's spouse, domestic partner or dependent children. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate. Income: means economic gain to a person from any source, including, but not limited to, compensation for services, including fees, commissions and payments in kind; gross income derived from business; gross income derived from dealings in property, rents and royalties; gross income from investments including interest, capital gains and dividends; annuities; income from life insurance and endowment contracts; pensions; income from discharge of indebtedness; distributions from a partnership or limited liability company; gross income from an interest in an estate or trust; prizes; and grants, but does not include gifts or honoraria. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies. Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor. Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement Labeling: includes all labels and other written, printed or graphic representations, in any form whatsoever, accompanying and pertaining to any seed whether in bulk or in containers, and includes invoices. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042 Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant). Local district: means :
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001Managerial employee: means an employee of an organization whose position requires substantial control over the organization's decision making, business operations, financial management or contracting and procurement activities. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Manufacturer: means a person that produces or commercializes a genetically engineered plant part, seed or plant, not including a farm operation as defined in section 152, subsection 6. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Member: means any person included in the membership of a retirement program of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 423, subchapter 2, or chapter 425, subchapter 2. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Membership: means active participation in the program of a school from the date of enrollment to the time the student withdraws or is absent from the school for 10 consecutive days for reasons other than illness. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 15001 Minority: when used in reference to age shall mean under the age of 18. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72 National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. Source: OCC Normal retirement age: means the specified age, the years of service requirement or any combination of age and years of service requirements at which a member becomes eligible for retirement benefits and at which those benefits may not be reduced under section 17852, subsection 3 or 3?A; section 17852, subsection 10, paragraph C; and section 18452, subsection 3. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Off-system railroad: includes any railroad not connected to the national rail system and not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration or its successors. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Participating local district: means a local district that has approved the participation of its employees in the Participating Local District Retirement Program of the retirement system under section 18201. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Person: shall include any individual, partnership, corporation, company, society or association. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042 Pharmaceutical or industrial crop: means a plant that has been genetically engineered to produce a medical or industrial product, including a human or veterinary drug, a biologic, industrial or research chemical, enzymes, vaccines, human antibodies and human blood proteins. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Pick-up contributions: means member contributions to the retirement system which are assumed and paid by the employer through a reduction of members' salaries for services rendered, in accordance with the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 414(h), in lieu of employee contributions. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Principal: means the person who supervises the operation and management of a school and school property as determined necessary by the superintendent under policies established by the school board. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Public easement: means an easement held by a municipality for purposes of public access to land or water not otherwise connected to a public way, and includes all rights enjoyed by the public with respect to private ways created by statute prior to July 29, 1976. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 3021 Pupil: means elementary or secondary school student. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 15001 Qualified person: means a person who:
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 6072Railroad: includes every commercial, interurban and other railway and each and every branch and extension thereof by whatsoever power operated, together with all tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots, ferries, yards, grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures and equipment and all other real estate, fixtures and personal property of every kind used in connection therewith, owned, controlled, operated or managed for public use in the transportation of persons or property. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Railroad company: includes every corporation or person, their lessees, trustees, receivers or trustees appointed by any court owning, controlling, operating or managing any railroad for compensation within this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Region: means a quasi-municipal corporation established by the Legislature to provide career and technical education to secondary students and middle school level students that is comprised of all the school administrative units within the geographical boundaries set forth for each career and technical education region in section 8451. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A Regional school unit: means the state-approved unit of school administration as established pursuant to chapter 103?A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 registered mail: when used in connection with any requirement for notice by mail shall mean either registered mail or certified mail. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72 Regular interest: means interest at the rate set from time to time by the board in accordance with section 17156. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Relative: means an individual who is related to the Legislator or the Legislator's spouse or the Legislator's domestic partner as a parent; child; sibling; sibling of a parent; sibling of a parent once removed; first cousin; child of a sibling or of a spouse's or domestic partner's sibling; spouse; domestic partner; grandparent; grandchild; parent-in-law; spouse or domestic partner of a child; sibling of a spouse or domestic partner; stepparent; stepchild; stepsibling; and half-sibling and includes the betrothed of the Legislator. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Reportable liability: means any unsecured loan of $3,000 or more received from a person who is not a relative. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Retirement: means termination of membership with a retirement allowance granted under this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Retirement benefit: means the same as retirement allowance. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Retirement system: means the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Satellite program: means a program providing career and technical education to secondary students and middle school level students that is operated, under section 8403?A, by a school administrative unit affiliated with a center. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A School administrative district: means a state-approved unit of school administration, composed of one or more municipalities which must provide public education to all public school students in the district. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 School administrative unit: means the state-approved unit of school administration and includes a municipal school unit, school administrative district, community school district, regional school unit or any other municipal or quasi-municipal corporation responsible for operating or constructing public schools, except that it does not include a career and technical education region. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 School board: means the governing body with statutory powers and duties for a school administrative unit. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Secondary school: means that portion of a school that provides instruction in any combination of grades 9 through 12. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Seed dealer: means a person who cleans, processes, sells or offers for sale a genetically engineered plant part, seed or plant in the State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Self-employed: means that the person qualifies as an independent contractor under Title 39?A, section 102, subsection 13?A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Service: means service as an employee for which compensation was paid. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Service credit: means credit received for creditable service as defined under subsection 10. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Special school district: means a school district created by private and special law for the purpose of constructing or adding to school buildings, but which does not have the authority or responsibility for operating public schools. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Stabilization fund: means the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund established in this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 1531 State board: means the State Board of Education. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 State employee: means any regular classified or unclassified officer or employee in a department, any employee of the Maine Community College System except those who make the election provided under Title 20?A, section 12722, any employee of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf except as provided in Title 20?A, section 7407, subsection 3?A, any employee of the Maine Military Authority, any employee of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, any employee of the Maine Port Authority, any employee of the Efficiency Maine Trust who on June 30, 2009 is an employee of the Public Utilities Commission energy efficiency or renewable energy programs who elects to remain a state employee, any employee of the Efficiency Maine Trust who accepts employment with the Efficiency Maine Trust prior to July 1, 2010 who was a state employee immediately prior to accepting such employment who elects to remain a state employee and any employee transferred from the Division of Higher Education Services to the Finance Authority of Maine who elects to be treated as a state employee, but does not include:
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001State paper: means the newspaper designated by the Legislature, in which advertisements and notices are required to be published. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72 State valuation: means the value certified to the Secretary of State as provided in Title 36, section 305, subsection 1. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 steam railroad company: means any railroad or terminal company, however chartered, using steam as its motive power or using Diesel engines; and the term "electric railroad" or "electric railroad company" means any railroad or terminal company using electricity as its motive power. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Superintendent: means the person in a school administrative unit or school union appointed and having the authority and responsibility under this Title and other applicable statutes. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 1 Teacher: includes a person who is on a one-year leave of absence from a position as a teacher and is participating in the education of prospective teachers by teaching and supervising students enrolled in college-level teacher preparation programs in this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 5 Sec. 17001 Technology use agreement: means an agreement between a manufacturer and a farmer that controls the right to plant a given genetically engineered plant part, seed or plant on a specific area of land for a certain period of time. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1051 Town way: means :
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 3021Transportation of persons: includes every service in connection with or incidental to the safety, comfort and convenience of the person transported and the receipt, carriage and delivery for that person and his baggage. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Transportation of property: includes every service in connection with or incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer, switching, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage and handling, and the transmission of credit by express or telegraph companies. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 23 Sec. 5001 Tree and shrub seeds: shall include the seeds of woody plants commonly known and sold as tree and shrub seeds in this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042 Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC Unit: means a school administrative unit. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A Sec. 8301-A Vegetable seeds: shall include the seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens or on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seeds in this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042 Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge. Violation of legislative ethics: means a violation of the prohibitions in section 1014 or 1015?A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 1012 Weed seeds: shall include the seeds of all plants other than other crop seed and pure seed and shall include noxious-weed seeds. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 7 Sec. 1042 Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.