Maine agencies can file for an “action for protection” against public records requesters, and a recent legislative change expanded the time they have to do it.

The “action for protection” is meant to protect the agency from “a series of requests that are unduly burdensome or oppressive,” according to the state’s Right to Know Committee. The committee suggested this in its list of recommendations last year.

Agencies may file an action for an order of protection from their local Superior Court. In the most recent change, they now have 60 days to do this, counted from either the day it received the request or the day it notified the requester that the request is “unduly burdensome or oppressive.”

The most recent change also specifies that “a series of requests” that is overly burdensome may trigger this action.

Posted: August 24, 2026
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Secrecy Tracker