United States — Maine Act or statute

United States — Maine legislation

Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, § 3003: Adoption of codes by reference, 1987

Municipal ordinances may adopt codes by reference, but the code must be properly identified, filed with the municipal clerk for public inspection, and the adopting ordinance must separately state any penalty.

code adoptionmunicipal ordinancepenaltiespublic notice

Professional statute overview

Enactment structure, operative effect and source provenance

Official source

01

Purpose and legislative effect

“Municipal ordinances may adopt codes by reference, but the code must be properly identified, filed with the municipal clerk for public inspection, and the adopting ordinance must separately state any penalty.”

Use this record to locate individual provisions, understand the instrument’s recorded structure, and move from a research summary to the exact source text.

02

How the instrument operates

  1. 01

    Start with the recorded version

    Enacted 1987 · Source version 1 Oct 2025. The date shown identifies this source expression and should not be treated as proof that no later change exists.

  2. 02

    Locate the controlling provision

    Use the provision map, part headings and full-text filter to move from the broad subject to the exact legal language.

  3. 03

    Read conditions and exceptions together

    Keep subsections, definitions, provisos and cross-references in context before drawing a legal conclusion.

  4. 04

    Verify currency and official wording

    Confirm later legislation, commencement notices and corrections with the official publisher before advice, filing or reliance.

03

Research entry points

Selected provisions across the instrument. Open any row to continue with the exact stored text.

Adoption of codes by reference

Municipal ordinances may adopt codes by reference, but the code must be properly identified, filed with the municipal clerk for public inspection, and the adopting ordinance must separately state any penalty.

Section 3003

04

Source and current-law status

Source record view

Source record from legislature.maine.gov · Enacted 1987 · Source version 1 Oct 2025

Verify current force

The source record does not state a definitive current-law status. Check the official publisher and later amendments before relying on this text.

Source-indexed provision map

Sections and provisions

Search by section, heading, part or exact legal wording. Every result remains linked to the stored source record.

Showing 1 of 1 provisions

Repeal
§ 3003Adoption of codes by referenceRepeal

Municipal ordinances may adopt codes by reference, but the code must be properly identified, filed with the municipal clerk for public inspection, and the adopting ordinance must separately state any penalty.

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. A. "Code" means any published compilation of regulations or enforceable standards which has been prepared by any association or organization that is nationally recognized for establishing standards in the areas set out below, or any department or agency of the Federal Government or the State, and includes: (1) Building codes; (2) Plumbing codes; (3) Electrical wiring codes; (4) Health or sanitation codes; (5) Fire prevention codes; (6) Inflammable liquids codes; and (7) Any other code which embraces regulations pertinent to a subject which is a proper municipal legislative matter. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] B. "Published" means printed or otherwise reproduced. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] 2. Adoption and amendment of codes by reference. Any ordinance adopted or repealed by a municipality under its home rule authority may incorporate by reference any code or portions of any code, or any amendment of such a code, properly identified as to date and source, without setting forth the provisions of the code in full. A. At least one copy of the code, portion or amendment that is incorporated or adopted by reference must be filed in the office of the municipal clerk and kept there available for public use, inspection and examination. The required copy of the codes, portion or amendment or public record must be filed with the municipal clerk for 30 days before the adoption of the ordinance that incorporates the code, portion or amendment by reference. [PL 1993, c. 374, §2 (AMD).] B. If such a code, portion or amendment is promulgated by a metropolitan or regional agency, the adopting municipality must be within the territorial boundaries of the agency. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] C. The filing requirements for ordinances adopted under Title 38, sections 435 to 447, are deemed to be met if the codes were on file in the clerk's office by July 1, 1974. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] [PL 1993, c. 374, §2 (AMD).] 3. Posting and publication of adopting ordinance. This section does not relieve any municipality of the requirement of posting or publishing in full the ordinance which adopts a code, portion or amendment by reference. All provisions applicable to that publication shall be fully and completely carried out as if no code, portion or amendment were incorporated in the ordinance. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).] 4. Adoption of penalty clauses. Any ordinance adopting a code, portion or amendment by reference shall state the penalty for violating the code, portion or amendment separately. No part of any such penalty may be incorporated by reference. [PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. C, §106 (NEW); PL 1989, c. 6 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 9, §2 (AMD); PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8, 10 (AMD).]
Section 3003Verify source

Legislative relationships

0 referenced instruments

Names are derived from the stored provision headings and citation-enrichment layer. Treat this as a research index and verify each relationship against the source text.

No structured legislative relationships were detected

The statute remains fully searchable by provision. Consult the source text for amendments and cross-references that have not yet been indexed.

Recorded versions and source checkpoint

1 version available in this collection

Current-law checkpoint
  • 1 Oct 2025 · currentEnglish

Source-linked research

Ask AI about this statute

The overview, provisions, and source records above are public. Continue in a separate conversation with this statute’s jurisdiction and source version attached.

No legal research model is currently available.

Sign in

About this LexChat collection

Statute information is organised from identified legislative sources for professional research. Corrections can be reported to hello@esheria.ai.