Maine Ordinances (2026)

Per 30-A MRS § 4364-A, enacted by LD 2003 (PL 2021 ch. 672), every Maine municipality SHALL allow at least one accessory dwelling unit as an accessory use to a single-family dwelling…

Maine adopted Appendix Q of the International Residential Code through MUBEC, providing statewide construction standards for tiny houses 400 square feet and under. The standards apply…

Maine regulates honey-bee colonies through statewide inspection and disease control administered by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; residential beekeeping…

Maine state law expressly preempts all breed-specific dog ordinances: no Maine city or town may ban pit bulls, Rottweilers, or any other breed. Dangerous-dog rules must be based on…

Maine state law sets no uniform rule on backyard chickens or small livestock. Each city or town establishes hen counts, coop setbacks, and rooster bans under home-rule authority.

Maine state law prohibits owners from allowing dogs to run at large (except when used for hunting); municipalities may adopt stricter leash rules but cannot weaken the state baseline.

Maine prohibits keeping wildlife (including most exotic mammals, large reptiles, and birds of prey) without a permit issued by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Deer…

Maine does not define 'animal hoarding' as a standalone offense, but the conduct is prosecuted under cruelty-to-animals (17 MRS § 1031) and proper-shelter (7 MRS § 4015) statutes…

Maine prohibits intentionally baiting bear outside the regulated hunting season and restricts deer feeding that creates nuisance or public-safety conditions. IF&W administers…

Maine regulates electronic smoking device retailers under 22 MRS section 1551-A and Title 22 chapter 263, requiring licensure, ID checks, and compliance with sale restrictions.

Maine state law uniformly requires municipal opt-in before any adult-use cannabis establishment can operate, while medical dispensaries and caregivers operate under statewide licensing…

Maine state law universally allows adults 21 and over to grow up to three mature cannabis plants for personal use and qualifying medical patients to grow more, with municipalities…

Maine's minimum wage statute at 26 MRS section 664 sets a state floor while expressly permitting municipalities to enact higher local minimum wages above the state level.

Maine's Earned Paid Leave law at 26 MRS section 637 grants employees one hour of paid leave per 40 hours worked, capped at 40 hours per year for covered employers.

Maine coastal development is governed by 38 MRS § 1801 (Coastal Management Policies declared under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972), the mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act…

Per 38 MRS § 420-C, any person filling, displacing or exposing soil in Maine must prevent unreasonable erosion of soil or sediment beyond the project site or into a protected natural…

Maine has no single statewide floodplain code; instead, 30-A MRS authorizes municipalities to adopt FEMA-compliant floodplain management ordinances as a condition of NFIP…

Maine 38 MRS § 420-D requires Maine DEP approval before constructing any project with one acre or more of disturbed area. The DEP Chapter 500 Stormwater Management Rules set quantity…

Maine has no statutory partition-fence or shared-cost rule. Neighbor disputes proceed under common-law nuisance, trespass, and boundary-line actions in Title 14 and Title 33.

Maine has no statewide defensible-space brush-clearance distance requirement comparable to California PRC § 4291; clearance is voluntary under the FireWise program except WITHIN the…

Maine Forest Service rules under 12 MRS Chapter 805 exempt small recreational campfires under 3 feet in diameter on a non-combustible base from the burn-permit requirement, but the…

Per 8 MRS § 221-A, consumer fireworks meeting the federal 27 CFR 555.11 definition are lawful statewide for persons 21+, but missile-type rockets, helicopters, sky rockets, and bottle…

Per 12 MRS Chapter 805, the Maine Forest Service requires a permit for nearly all open burning of brush, debris, and grass, issued by the local town fire warden or through the Maine…

Under 32 MRS Chapter 139 (Maine Fuel Board), persons who install, service, or set propane tanks and outside piping must hold a Maine Fuel Board license; per 32 MRS § 18135 plant…

Maine is a permitless carry state for residents 21 and older, while still issuing concealed handgun permits recognized for reciprocity and certain restricted areas.

Maine preempts local firearms regulation under 25 MRS section 2011, with limited municipal authority allowed for discharge ordinances and certain public buildings.

Maine generally permits open carry of firearms by lawful possessors, governed primarily by state law with municipalities preempted from imposing additional carry restrictions.

Maine permits handgun carry in motor vehicles by lawful possessors under 25 MRS section 2001-A, with permitless concealed carry available to qualifying residents 21 and older.

Maine requires food trucks to hold state-issued mobile vendor licenses through DACF or DHHS depending on operations. The statewide licensing framework applies in every municipality…

Maine law confines legal casino gambling to two fixed locations under 8 M.R.S. § 1011: the Oxford County casino site and the Bangor commercial-track site. A new casino or slot facility…

Maine requires a license or registration from the Gambling Control Unit before any nonprofit, fraternal, religious, or civic group can run card games, raffles, tournament games, or an…

Maine's unlawful gambling statute, 17-A M.R.S. § 954, only punishes a person who 'advances' or 'profits from' unlawful gambling activity, not the act of playing itself. Section 952(8)…

Maine legalized sports wagering statewide in 2022, but mobile and online betting licenses under 8 M.R.S. § 1207 go exclusively to Maine's four federally recognized Indian tribes: no…

Maine condominium associations get an automatic statutory assessment lien on each unit under 33 M.R.S. § 1603-116. Non-condo HOAs have no general statute and rely on their recorded…

Maine condo associations must hold annual meetings and keep records open to owners under 33 M.R.S. §§ 1603-108 and 1603-118. Non-condo HOAs follow the meeting, voting, and…

Maine is a right-to-dry state, and the protection is written into the codified statute rather than borrowed from a solar definition. 33 M.R.S. § 1421(3) defines a "solar clothes-drying…

Since 2023 Maine has protected low-impact landscaping in condominiums and other common-ownership housing at 33 M.R.S. § 1451. A covenant, declaration, bylaw or rule may not place an…

Maine enacted a right-to-charge law in 2025. Under 33 M.R.S. § 576-A, added by PL 2025, c. 280, any provision of a declaration or bylaw that prohibits or places an unreasonable…

Maine puts no dollar cap on association fines. 33 M.R.S. § 1603-102(a)(11) lets a condominium unit owners association levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws…

Maine gives a condominium association an automatic lien on a unit from the moment an assessment or fine falls due, and 33 M.R.S. § 1603-116(a) lets that lien be foreclosed in like…

Maine licenses 'home food processors' under 22 MRS § 2167, administered by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Home food processors may produce…

Maine licenses family child care providers under 22 MRS § 8301-A et seq. and 10-148 CMR Chapter 32. A family child care provider cares for 2-12 children (including the provider's own…

Maine issues no statewide home kitchen operation permit. Instead the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, 7 M.R.S. chapter 8-F, lets a municipality, plantation or county adopt an ordinance…

Maine calls the offence OUI, not DUI, and it has legislated about roadblocks without ever writing a sobriety checkpoint statute. The word "checkpoint" appears nowhere in the Maine…

Maine has no statute granting a right to record law enforcement. The phrases "law enforcement activity" and "record a law enforcement" return nothing in the Maine Revised Statutes, and…

Maine has no general stop-and-identify statute that attaches on suspicion alone. The duty in 17-A MRS §15-A(2) arises only where an officer has probable cause to believe you committed…

Maine has no statute on consent to search a vehicle. Full-text searches of the Maine Revised Statutes for "consent to search", "warrantless search", "search of a motor vehicle"…

Maine's Title 30-A, §3291 puts a roadside weed-and-brush duty on landowners whose property adjoins a public highway or town way. Once a municipality does the first clearing, the…

Maine runs two completely separate tracks. A federally compliant low-speed vehicle can be registered with the Secretary of State for $25 a year under 29-A M.R.S. § 501(11), gets a…

Per 7 MRS Section 3950, Maine municipalities may adopt or retain more stringent barking-dog ordinances than state law; less restrictive local rules are invalid. State law also…

Per 29-A MRS Section 1912 (Mufflers), every motor vehicle operated on a Maine public way must be equipped with a muffler in good working order and no exhaust device producing…

Per 29-A MRS § 1854, a property owner or auto-repair/storage facility holding an abandoned vehicle must notify the Maine Secretary of State within 14 days, identify lienholders, and…

Maine statute 29-A MRS § 2068 prohibits parking in front of any public or private driveway. State driveway permits on state highways are issued by Maine DOT under 23 MRS § 704…

Maine statute 29-A MRS § 2068 sets the statewide on-street parking baseline (10-foot clear passage, 300-foot sight line, no parking in restricted zones). Time limits, residential…

Maine regulates what a towing or storage facility can charge you for keeping the car, not what it can charge for taking it. Under 29-A M.R.S. § 1857 daily storage charges must be…

Before evicting, a Maine landlord must serve the proper written notice: 7 days for nonpayment of rent, 7 days for cause such as serious property damage, nuisance, or violence, and 30…

Every residential lease in Maine carries an implied warranty that the unit is fit for human habitation. If a defect endangers health or safety and the landlord unreasonably fails to…

Maine landlords must give tenants reasonable notice before entering and may enter only at reasonable times, except in emergencies. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable. Tenants may…

Maine caps residential late-rent penalties at 4% of one month's rent. A landlord may not charge a late fee until rent is at least 15 days overdue, and may only charge it if the lease…

Either party may end a Maine tenancy at will (month-to-month) with at least 30 days' written notice given for that purpose, regardless of cause. Shorter 7-day notices apply for…

Maine landlords must give at least 45 days' written notice before raising rent or a mandatory recurring fee on a residential tenancy. If the increase is 10% or more, the notice period…

Maine caps a residential security deposit at two months' rent. A landlord must return the deposit with an itemized statement of any deductions within 30 days under a written lease, or…

Maine requires 20 years of possession before a squatter can claim land by adverse possession. Under tit. 14 § 801 a real action to recover land must be brought within 20 years, and §…

Maine's Right to Farm and farmland-protection statutes in the Maine Agriculture Protection Act (7 MRS Chapter 6) limit local zoning that would impede agricultural operations meeting…

Maine's Right to Farm framework in the Maine Agriculture Protection Act (7 MRS Chapter 6) shields established farm operations from nuisance suits and restrictive local ordinances when…

Maine imposes a 9% state lodging tax on the rental of living quarters under 28 days, collected and remitted by Airbnb, Vrbo, and similar marketplace facilitators under 36 MRS § 1754-B.

Maine regulates political sign placement primarily through 23 MRS § 1913-A (signs within public ways) and 23 MRS § 1914-B (political signs at the polling place). Political signs are…

Maine's LD 1532 enacted a statewide ban on single-use plastic carryout bags, codified in 38 MRS section 1611, with retailer fee requirements for paper alternatives.

Maine prohibits the sale and distribution of disposable polystyrene foam food service containers under 38 MRS § 1572 (Title 38, Chapter 15-A), the first such statewide ban in the…

Maine's Solar Rights Act, 33 M.R.S. chapter 28-A, bars a homeowners association, condominium association, deed restriction or even a municipal ordinance from prohibiting an owner from…

Maine's net energy billing law (35-A MRS 3209-A) guarantees solar customers of an investor-owned utility credit for the power their system exports, netting exports against imports each…

Per 22 MRS § 1623 et seq. and 10-144 CMR Chapter 202, Maine DHHS licenses and inspects public and semi-public pools: water chemistry, anti-entrapment drain covers (VGB Act), lifeguard…

Maine prohibits the sale of tobacco and electronic smoking devices to anyone under age 21 under 22 MRS section 1551-A and related Tobacco 21 statutes.

Maine has no statewide flavor ban, but several municipalities have adopted local restrictions on flavored tobacco and vape sales using their public health authority.

Maine criminalizes illegal dumping primarily through 17 MRS § 2264-A (Littering. Class E crime for large-scale dumping) and 38 MRS § 1319-T (Open dumping prohibition under the…

Maine sets a statewide 50% solid-waste recycling and reuse goal under 38 MRS § 2132 and operates a nationally pioneering Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for packaging…

Maine regulates extra lighting by a dedicated section, 29-A MRS §1909-B, and it is strict. An auxiliary light must be white or amber on the front, amber on the side, and amber or red…

Maine has no statute that names dash cameras and no list of devices allowed on the windshield, so the question is decided by effect rather than by permission. Under 29-A MRS §2082(2) a…

Maine prohibits lane splitting twice over, in two separate subsections of 29-A M.R.S. § 2062. Subsection 5 bars a motorcycle operator from overtaking or passing in the lane occupied by…

Maine has no statute that names plate covers, tinted shields or frames, but it does something harsher than most states: 29-A M.R.S. § 2104(2) makes it a Class E crime to obscure the…

Maine has no statute prohibiting radar detectors in private passenger vehicles. A full-text search of the Maine Revised Statutes returns no section using the phrase radar detector, and…

Maine lets you run metal studs for seven months of the year with no permit at all. 29-A M.R.S. § 1919(1) makes it an offense to operate a vehicle with tires having metal studs, wires…

Maine sets one number for aftermarket tint: a side or rear window may not allow a light transmittance of less than 35% net of glass and material, under 29-A MRS §1916(1)(C). The…