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An Act To Improve Access to Public Land Records
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 33 MRSA §751, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 246, §1, is further amended to read:
 
1. Instruments generally.   Receiving, recording and indexing any instrument that may be recorded and for which a specific fee is not set forth in this section or in any other section, the sum of $13$15 for the first record page and $2 for each additional record page or portion of an additional record page. In addition, if more than 4 names are to be indexed, a fee of $1 must be paid for each additional name, counting all grantors and grantees;
Sec. 2. 33 MRSA §751, sub-§14-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 508, §1, is further amended to read:
 
14-B. Copies.   Making abstracts and copies of records at the office of the register of deeds as follows:
 
A. Five dollars per page for paper abstracts and copies of plans;
 
B. One dollar per page for other paper abstracts and copies; and
 
C. Fifty cents per page for digital abstracts and copies, except that the fee is 5¢ per page for copies of 1,000 or more digital abstracts and copies of consecutive recordsFor any quantity of copies produced on media other than paper, an amount equal to 110% of the costs incurred solely to fulfill the request for copies; and
Sec. 3.  33 MRSA §751, sub-§14-D  is enacted to read:
 
14-D.  Internet access to land records.     A registry of deeds may establish a website subscription fee of up to $30 per month, but may not charge any other fees to a person who inspects, copies and downloads digital copies of official land records from a registry of deeds website; and
 
SUMMARY
This bill improves access to public land records by limiting the fees registries of deeds may charge for digital copies. Maine's Freedom of Access Act limits the fees state agencies may charge for copies of public records to the cost of producing copies, but the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 33 permits registries of deeds to charge a much higher fee for digital copies. The bill also removes outdated references to abstracts, since registries of deeds no longer prepare such documents.