An Act To Prevent Smoke Detector Tampering
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 25 MRSA §2464, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 260, is amended to read:
7. Noninterference. A person may not knowingly interfere with or make inoperative any smoke detector required by this section, except that the owner or the agent of an owner of a building may temporarily disconnect a detector in a dwelling unit or common area only for construction or rehabilitation activities when such activities are likely to activate the detector or make it inactive. The detector must be immediately reconnected at the cessation of construction or rehabilitation activities each day, regardless of the intent to return to construction or rehabilitation activities on succeeding days. Notwithstanding subsection 5, a person who violates this subsection commits a Class D crime and is subject to a fine of not more than $1,500 for each violation.
summary
This bill makes tampering with a smoke detector a Class D crime and imposes a fine of up to $1,500.