Maine Townsman - October, 2013 Recall is the process by which an elected public ocial may be remo!ed "rom oce be"ore the natural e#piration o" the ocial$s term o" oce% Recall ordinarily re&uires a petition and a recall election, but the precise re&uirements !ary dependin' on the applicable law%There is no 'enerally applicable recall procedure under Maine law "or the remo!al o"an elected municipal ocial% Title 30-( M%R%)%(% * 2+0+ was enacted in 2011 to pro!ide a recall procedure in the absence o" a municipal ordinance or charter pro!ision, but this statutory process is applicable only i" the ocial in &uestion is con!icted o" a crime committed while in oce, the !ictim o" which is the municipality itsel"% This statutory recall process does not apply under any other circumstances%,#cept "or 30-( M%R%)%(% * 2+0+, an elected municipal ocial may be recalled only i"there e#ists a local recall procedure% -.ote that this is optional / a municipality is notre&uired to pro!ide "or recall at all%0 (ccordin' to 30-( M%R%)%(% * 2102-20, a municipality may, under its home rule authority, pro!ide "or the recall o" any electedocial other than a school committee member by either charter or ordinance% ( school committee member, howe!er, may be recalled only under a charter pro!ision%The typical recall ordinance or charter pro!ision re&uires a recall petition namin' the ocial to be recalled and si'ned by a certain number or percenta'e o" !oters% 2pon submission and !eri3cation o" si'natures, the municipal ocers -selectmen or councilors0 are then re&uired to call a recall election within a certain time% 4" the election results in remo!al o" the ocial, the !acancy is 3lled in accordance with 'eneral law -by either election or appointment, dependin' on the oce0%5hile recall may be appropriate in some cases, it is not necessarily the ri'ht response to e!ery political dispute% 4" your community is considerin' a recall ordinance or charter pro!ision, we recommend that the number o" petition si'natures re&uired be set hi'h enou'h to pre!ent a small minority "rom "orcin' "ri!olous or repetiti!e recall elections% 5e also recommend that the petition not be re&uired to cite a speci3c reason "or the recall, as this could inad!ertently con!ert what is essentially a political decision into a due process proceedin', complete with potential "or court appeals%6or the record, the recall process is not applicable to the remo!al o" appointed ocials% (ppointed ocials and employees 'enerally are entitled to due process -a notice and hearin'0 and may be remo!ed only "or cause -see 76or 8ause$ Remo!al o" Municipal (ppointees, Maine Townsman% 9e'al .otes, 6ebruary 20000%-:y R%;%6%0