PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Require Prisoners To Perform Community Service and To Require Jails, Prisons, Nonprofit Entities, Universities and Counties To Compost Food Waste
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §1345-A  is enacted to read:
§ 1345-A.  Mandatory community service by inmates
 
1.      A person sentenced to a period of imprisonment and committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections or a county jail shall participate in community service work as determined appropriate by the chief administrative officer of the correctional facility.
 
2.      The Department of Corrections and each county jail shall establish community service programs that include, at a minimum: constructing raised bed gardens for the correctional facility, the community or individuals; growing, harvesting and storing the gardens' crops; and composting all food wastes.
 
3.      The Department of Corrections and the county jails may seek the support of the State Board of Corrections in adopting policies necessary to implement the purposes of this section.
Sec. 2. Composting initiative. The University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, Maine Maritime Academy and all counties and public nonprofit entities that prepare and serve meals, including, but not limited to, hospitals, county jails and prisons, shall develop and implement food composting programs no later than December 30, 2009. Composted materials may be distributed to the Department of Corrections and to county jails as needed for the purpose of supporting their community service gardens under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1345-A. The Department of Corrections shall collect information from its correctional facilities and the county jails about participation in the food composting programs and report its findings to the Legislature by March 1, 2010.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Corrections and the county jails to establish community service programs for inmates and requires inmates to participate in those programs as determined appropriate. The community service programs may include any service, but must include a gardening program. The Department of Corrections and the county jails may seek the support of the State Board of Corrections in developing and implementing the community service programs.
The bill also requires the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, Maine Maritime Academy and all counties and nonprofit entities, including, but not limited to, hospitals, county jails and prisons that prepare and serve meals, to develop and implement food composting programs no later than December 30, 2009. Composted materials may be distributed to the Department of Corrections and to county jails as needed for the purpose of supporting their community service gardens.