Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife - retirement

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) !; I\\. I<• 1 A , ,, ... , 1 iJ I o) STATE OF MAINE lnter--Departmental Memorandu1n Date January 30, 1979 To P.R. Gingrow, ------~------------ Dept. Maine State Ret~_E_E:_~e_nt System From _K_a_y_R_._H_._E_v_a_n_s_,_A_s_s_1_· s_t_a_n_t __ Dept. Attorney General ····------- Subject Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife - Retirement Your memo of December 18, 1978, asks whether the Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife may retire under the provisions of 5 11.R.S.A. § 1121(1) (D) as a "law enforcement officer" in the Department. The answer to your question is yes. The Commissioner has authority and respons- ibility under 12 M.R.S.A. § 1952 for the "general supervision of the .•. enforcement of the inland fisheries and wildlife laws" which constitutes him a "law enforcement officer" for the purposes of§ 1121(1) (D). As noted in your memo, an opinion from this office dated February 25, 1972, reached the same answer, to an inquiry regarding the retirement of the Commissioner of Marine Resources. While that opinion rested in part on the specific language of 12 M.R.S.A. § 3502, it did not take the position that that language was necessary to the conclusion. In my opinion, the more general provisions relied on herein provide a sufficient basis for the affirmative conclusion. , ~ . ::./\ KAY h. ~;! z,,L,M Assistant Attorney General KRHE/ec