# Maine LD 1101: An Act to Address the Limited Availability of Counsel in Courts to Represent Indigent Parties in Matters Affecting Their Fundamental Rights Maine LD 1101, An Act to Address the Limited Availability of Counsel in Courts to Represent Indigent Parties in Matters Affecting Their Fundamental Rights, is a 132nd Maine Legislature (2025-2026) Senate bill sponsored by Anne M. Carney (Democratic); status became law, last action 2025-04-23 (ACTPUB Chapter 40); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1101-132 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Maine LD 1101 - State: Maine - Session: 132nd Maine Legislature (2025-2026) - Title: An Act to Address the Limited Availability of Counsel in Courts to Represent Indigent Parties in Matters Affecting Their Fundamental Rights - Status: became law - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-03-14 - Last action: 2025-04-23, ACTPUB Chapter 40 - Sponsor: Anne M. Carney (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE - APPOINTED COUNSEL - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (204 yes, 85 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Private lawyers when no public defender: benefit, medium. The court can appoint a private lawyer if no public defender or assigned counsel is available. The lawyer must be qualified, have required experience, and agree to take the case. The Commission pays the lawyer at the same rate as assigned counsel and covers expenses. Client confidentiality rules ap… - Assigned lawyers paid $150 per hour: benefit, medium. The state pays assigned lawyers $150 per hour. It provides $62,500 for FY 2024–25 and $375,000 for each of FY 2025–26 and FY 2026–27. This supports income for attorneys who take assigned cases. - More public defenders and support staff: benefit, low. The state funds 8 new public defense jobs: 5 Assistant Defenders, 2 Paralegals, and 1 Legal Administrator. Funding totals $206,522 in FY 2024–25, $1.24 million in FY 2025–26, and $1.26 million in FY 2026–27. This expands capacity to represent indigent people. - Courts can order payments for counsel: cost, medium. The court can order you to pay toward your lawyer if it finds you cannot afford private counsel but can contribute. Payments can be installments up to the full cost, or a set amount, and cannot exceed actual expenses. Orders can be paused while you are incarcerated. This applies to assigned and con… - Stronger indigency checks and reimbursements: mixed, low. The Commission now manages and improves how lawyers are repaid for expenses. It must check who qualifies for indigent services, require time tracking by case, and seek court review when finances change. It also receives court-ordered contributions from people who can partly pay. These duties for pr… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Anne M. Carney (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Amy Kuhn (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-10 | House | INDEF PP HAH-47 | pass | 91 | 53 | | | 2025-04-10 | House | PASSAGE TO BE ENGROSSED | pass | 113 | 32 | | ## Actions (7) - 2025-04-23: ACTPUB Chapter 40 - 2025-04-10: PASSED TO BE ENACTED - Emergency - 2/3 Elected Required, in concurrence. (Senate) - 2025-04-10: This being an emergency measure, a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to the House was necessary.PASSED TO BE ENACTED.Sent for concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (House) - 2025-04-10: CONSENT CALENDAR - FIRST DAYOn OBJECTION of Representative FREDETTE of Newport REMOVED.The Committee Report was READ and ACCEPTED.The Bill was READ ONCE.Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) was READ.On motion of Representative FREDETTE of Newport, House Amendment "A" (H-47) to Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) was READ.On motion of Representative KUHN of Falmouth, House Amendment "A" (H-47) to Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) was INDEFINITELY POSTPONED.ROLL CALL NO. 77(Yeas 91 - Nays 53 - Absent 6 - Excused 0 - Restricted - 1)Subsequently, Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) was ADOPTED.Under suspension of the rules, the Bill was given its SECOND READING without REFERENCE to the Committee on Bills in the Second Reading.The Bill was PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) ROLL CALL NO. 78(Yeas 113 - Nays 32 - Absent 5 - Excused 0 - Restricted - 1)In concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH. (House) - 2025-04-08: Report READ and ACCEPTED.READ ONCE.Committee Amendment "A" (S-11) READ and ADOPTED.Under suspension of the Rules, READ A SECOND TIME and PASSED TO BE ENGROSSED AS AMENDED BY Committee Amendment "A" (S-11).Ordered sent down forthwith for concurrence. (Senate) - 2025-03-21: CARRIED OVER, in the same posture, to the next special or regular session of the 132nd Legislature, pursuant to Joint Order SP 519. (Senate) - 2025-03-14: Received by the Secretary of the Senate on March 14, 2025 and REFERRED to the Committee on JUDICIARY pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 (Senate) ## Bill text - Amendment C-A (S-11), adopted by House & Senate: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=2&snum=132) - Enacted: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=3&snum=132) - Introduced: [PDF](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=1&snum=132) ## Related bills - LD 1522: An Act to Establish the Maine Eviction Prevention Program (failed) - LD 1665: An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine Families (failed) - LD 1872: An Act to Reinvest in the Pension Funds of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (failed) - LD 2067: An Act to Include Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan for Retirement (failed) - LD 1611: An Act to Decrease the Retirement Contributions Required for Teachers and State Employees (failed) - LD 1294: An Act to Expand the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit (failed) ## Sources - [Amendment C-A (S-11), adopted by House & Senate (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=2&snum=132) - [Enacted (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=3&snum=132) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0462&item=1&snum=132) ## Related - [LD 1522: An Act to Establish the Maine Eviction Prevention Program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1522-132) - [LD 1665: An Act to Provide Property Tax Relief to Maine Families](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1665-132) - [LD 1872: An Act to Reinvest in the Pension Funds of the Maine Public Employees Retiremen…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1872-132) - [LD 2067: An Act to Include Community Mental Health Workers Under the 1998 Special Plan f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD2067-132) - [LD 1611: An Act to Decrease the Retirement Contributions Required for Teachers and State…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1611-132) - [LD 1294: An Act to Expand the Dependent Exemption Tax Credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1294-132) - [Maine bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/maine/bills) - [Maine state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/maine) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/ME-LD1101-132 (as of 2026-10-17).