An Act To Increase Efficiency of the State Court Library Committee

Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §191,  as amended by PL 2001, c. 250, §1, is further amended to read:

§ 191. State Court Library Committee

The State Court Library Committee, as established in Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 23, consists of 9 voting members, 3 of whom must be members of the public, 2 of whom must be members of the judiciary and 4 of whom must be attorneys. Each attorney appointed to the committee must be actively engaged in the practice of law and have an established place of business in a county in which a law library established pursuant to section 193 is located. One of the 4 attorney members must be chosen from a county having a census population of from 45,000 to 120,000 and one of the 4 must be chosen from a county having a census population of less than 45,000 persons. The members are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. The Chief Justice shall designate the chair. The State Law Librarian, the University of Maine School of Law Librarian and the State Court Administrator are ex officio nonvoting members. A quorum consists of 5 of the voting members. The committee shall meet at least 4 times each year as needed at the call of the chair. Secretarial assistance must be provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §193, last ¶,  as enacted by PL 2001, c. 250, §2, is amended to read:

All other law libraries must receive equal resources and services regardless of location and have access to the regional court law library centers for the resources not available locally.

summary

This bill eliminates the requirement that the State Court Library Committee meet at least 4 times a year and gives the State Court Library Committee flexibility in the provision of resources to law libraries.