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Good Samaritan training: academy will develop curriculum but sponsor presses to codify requirement
Summary
Sponsor of LD 1646 asked lawmakers to require mandatory training for law enforcement on Maine’s Good Samaritan law and overdose response. The Criminal Justice Academy told the committee it will convene stakeholders and develop training using existing resources; the committee recorded a motion expressing opposition to the bill and held further action.
Sponsor Rachel Talbot Ross proposed an amendment to LD 1646 that would require the Criminal Justice Academy to develop mandatory training for law‑enforcement personnel on Maine’s Good Samaritan law and overdose response, with implementation deadlines and collaboration with recovery‑advocacy groups and naloxone distributors.
Courtney Gary Allen, representing Maine Recovery Advocates Action Project, told the committee the sponsor narrowed the amendment to require the training to be developed collaboratively and delivered within existing resources, and removed a prescriptive two‑hour length to allow flexibility: "Our experience is that this training could be as simple as 15 minutes at a front door to an hour max."
Lincoln Ryder, director of the Criminal Justice Academy, told the committee the academy had already moved to convene a stakeholder working group to develop training and assigned an assistant director as coordinator. Ryder said the board aims to have a board‑approved online module available by January 1, 2027 (the academy said it could begin work immediately and target an earlier rollout if possible). Ryder and the sponsor differed on whether statutory language was necessary to ensure continuity across administrations; the sponsor said a statutory requirement would guarantee the training persists regardless of future leadership changes.
Representative Chad Perkins moved 'ought not to pass' on the sponsor’s amendment, arguing the problem the amendment sought to solve (public awareness of the Good Samaritan law) had been framed as a public‑education gap rather than a law‑enforcement training gap. The motion was seconded and the bill was recorded as held pending committee action.
Next steps: the Criminal Justice Academy convened a working group and will develop training; the committee held the bill while noting the academy’s voluntary commitments and the sponsor’s concern for statutory guarantee.
