Local Health Officer Training

Section 4: Appointments and Duties

Statutory Duties: Title 22 M.R.S.A.  §454-A lists the specific duties the LHO is required to assume.

2. Duties within jurisdictional limits, a local health officer shall:

  1. Make and keep a record of all the proceedings, transactions, ordinances, orders and rules acted upon by the local health officer;

  2. Report to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee facts that relate to communicable diseases and cases of communicable disease as required by department rules;

  3. During a declared health emergency, as defined in section 802, subsections 2 and 2-A, report to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee facts regarding potential notifiable diseases and cases that directly relate to the declared health emergency, as the rules of the department require;

  4. Receive and examine the nature of complaints made by members of the public concerning conditions posing a public health threat or a potential public health threat;

  5. With the consent of the owner, agent or occupant, enter, inspect and examine any place or premises where filth, whether or not the cause of sickness, or conditions posing a public health threat are known or believed to exist. An agent with special expertise, appointed by the local health officer, may inspect and examine the place or premises. If entry is refused, the local health officer shall apply for an inspection warrant from the District Court, pursuant to Title 4, section 179, prior to conducting the inspection;

 

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