Committee adopts administrative complaint pathway for code-enforcement certification discipline after negotiated edits
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Summary
The committee voted to recommend LD2097 as amended to create an administrative process at MOCA for complaints against certified code enforcement officers (CEOs). The amended approach creates a division director intake, a peer review/adjudicatory committee, and progressive remedies; the committee added flexibility for training catch-up periods and removed civil fines.
Maine's Office of Community Affairs proposed LD2097 to move certification-discipline review of code enforcement officers from a district-court-only path into an administrative framework managed by MOCA. Under the amended system, a complaint would reach MOCA; the division director would screen and, if needed, open an investigation; an investigatory committee and a separate three-member adjudicatory panel of peers would oversee hearings; remedies could include guidance, consent agreements, conditions, suspension, modification or revocation of certificates, and a right to appeal final agency action to superior court.
MOCA explained the change was prompted by an increase in complex complaints and the high cost and inefficiency of relying solely on court filings for discipline. The proposed amendment clarified that the process targets conduct and misconduct (falsification, repeated failure to perform duties, dishonest deviation from accepted standards) and not routine code interpretations or employer-level personnel disputes. The draft removed monetary civil penalties and instead emphasizes progressive discipline and a hearing before peers. The committee negotiated additional protections: (1) notice to the certificate holder and the employing agency, (2) ability for MOCA to triage matters that are municipal employment or appeal-board matters, and (3) an administrative division director-level ability to grant a limited catch-up extension (committee discussed up to 2 years) for continuing-education requirements while MOCA expands training capacity.
Stakeholders (Maine Municipal Association, Maine Building Officials & Inspectors Association, Maine Fire Chiefs) described the amended draft as a substantial improvement and asked for explicit statutory language to allow a reasonable catch-up window so officers working in multiple small towns can meet continuing-education requirements without immediate discipline; the committee incorporated the concept in the amendment and voted a recommendation (roll call recorded: 8 yes, 1 no) that LD2097 ought to pass as amended.
