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An Act To Improve the Department of Corrections' Response to Emergency Situations by Including Vehicles Operated by Certain Department Employees in the Definition of Authorized Emergency Vehicles
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2054, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 2017, c. 229, §32, is further amended to read:
 
B. "Authorized emergency vehicle" means any one of the following vehicles:
 
(1) An ambulance;
 
(2) A Baxter State Park Authority vehicle operated by a Baxter State Park ranger;
 
(3) A Bureau of Marine Patrol vehicle operated by a coastal warden;
 
(4) A Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry vehicle operated by a forest ranger;
 
(5) A Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry vehicle used for forest fire control;
 
(6) A Department of Corrections vehicle used for responding to the escape of or performing the high-security transfer of a prisoner, juvenile client or juvenile detainee or operated by an investigative officer or other employee of the Department of Corrections who is certified by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy as a law enforcement officer;
 
(7) A Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife vehicle operated by a warden;
 
(8) A Department of Public Safety vehicle operated by a police officer appointed pursuant to Title 25, section 2908, a state fire investigator or a Maine Drug Enforcement Agency officer;
 
(9) An emergency medical service vehicle;
 
(10) A fire department vehicle;
 
(11) A hazardous material response vehicle, including a vehicle designed to respond to a weapon of mass destruction;
 
(12) A railroad police vehicle;
 
(13) A sheriff's department vehicle;
 
(14) A State Police or municipal police department vehicle;
 
(15) A vehicle operated by a chief of police, a sheriff or a deputy sheriff when authorized by the sheriff;
 
(16) A vehicle operated by a municipal fire inspector, a municipal fire chief, an assistant or deputy chief or a town forest fire warden;
 
(17) A vehicle operated by a qualified deputy sheriff or other qualified individual to perform court security-related functions and services as authorized by the State Court Administrator pursuant to Title 4, section 17, subsection 15;
 
(18) A Federal Government vehicle operated by a federal law enforcement officer;
 
(19) A vehicle operated by a municipal rescue chief, deputy chief or assistant chief;
 
(20) An Office of the Attorney General vehicle operated by a detective appointed pursuant to Title 5, section 202;
 
(21) A Department of the Secretary of State vehicle operated by a motor vehicle detective; and
 
(22) A University of Maine System vehicle operated by a University of Maine System police officer.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the definition of "authorized emergency vehicle" in the motor vehicle laws to include a Department of Corrections vehicle operated by an investigative officer or other employee of the department who is certified by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy as a law enforcement officer.