Maine § 995. - Director

§ 995.. Director

1.  Appointment.  Not earlier than April 1, 2003, the Legislative Council shall appoint by an affirmative vote of 8 members of the Legislative Council a nonpartisan director of the office for the purposes of conducting program evaluations pursuant to this chapter. The director must be appointed to an initial 5-year term, which is subject to renewal by the Legislative Council every 5 years thereafter. During the term of the contract, the director may be terminated only for cause by an affirmative vote of 8 members of the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council shall establish the compensation of the director. The director's duties must be performed independently and in a nonpartisan manner but under the general policy direction of the committee.

2.  Duties.  The director shall supervise the staff of the office in accordance with policies adopted by the committee and consistent with the policies of the Legislative Council. The director shall prepare and present a biennial budget to the committee for its approval. Money appropriated or allocated to the office must be expended in the discretion of the director and the committee only. The director also shall prepare and present an annual work plan to the committee for its consideration and approval. The director also may contract with private individuals or entities for the conduct of program evaluations under this chapter. The director may request the committee to issue subpoenas.

3.  Employees.  Employees must be nonpartisan. Employees of the office are employed by and are responsible to the director, who shall hire and fix the compensation of each employee, subject to the approval of the committee and within resources available in the biennial budget. Other than the director appointed pursuant to subsection 1, an employee of the office may not be employed prior to July 1, 2003.

4.  Annual report.  The director shall prepare an annual report of the office's activities for each calendar year and shall submit that annual report to the committee and the Legislature no later than January 15th of each calendar year.

5.  Coordination with State Auditor; complaints alleging fraud, waste, inefficiency or abuse.  The director may access confidential information disclosed by the State Auditor under Title 5, section 244‑E, subsection 3 in order to ensure appropriate agency referral or coordination between agencies to respond appropriately to all complaints made under Title 5, section 244‑E.