§602. Bribery in official and political matters

1.  A person is guilty of bribery in official and political matters if:

A. He promises, offers, or gives any pecuniary benefit to another with the intention of influencing the other's action, decision, opinion, recommendation, vote, nomination or other exercise of discretion as a public servant, party official or voter;   [PL 1981, c. 349, §1 (AMD).]

B. Being a public servant, party official, candidate for electoral office or voter, he solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any pecuniary benefit from another knowing or believing the other's purpose to be as described in paragraph A, or fails to report to a law enforcement officer that he has been offered or promised a pecuniary benefit in violation of paragraph A; or   [PL 1983, c. 583, §8 (AMD).]

C. That person promises, offers or gives any pecuniary benefit to another with the intention of obtaining the other's signature on an absentee ballot under Title 21-A, chapter 9, subchapter IV, or referendum petition under Title 21-A, chapter 11, or that person solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any pecuniary benefit from another knowing or believing the other's purpose is to obtain that person's signature on an absentee ballot or referendum petition, or fails to report to a law enforcement officer that the person has been offered or promised a pecuniary benefit in violation of this paragraph.   [PL 1989, c. 502, Pt. A, §47 (AMD).]

[PL 1989, c. 502, Pt. A, §47 (AMD).]

2.  As used in this section and other sections of this chapter, the following definitions apply.

A. A person is a "candidate for electoral office" upon his public announcement of his candidacy.   [PL 1975, c. 499, §1 (NEW).]

B. "Party official" means any person holding any post in a political party whether by election, appointment or otherwise.   [PL 1975, c. 499, §1 (NEW).]

C. "Pecuniary benefit" means any advantage in the form of money, property, commercial interest or anything else, the primary significance of which is economic gain; it does not include economic advantage applicable to the public generally, such as tax reduction or increased prosperity generally. "Pecuniary benefit" does not include the following:

(1) A meal, if the meal is provided by industry or special interest organizations as part of an informational program presented to a group of public servants;

(2) A meal, if the meal is a prayer breakfast or a meal served during a meeting to establish a prayer breakfast; or

(3) A subscription to a newspaper, news magazine or other news publication.   [RR 1997, c. 1, §12 (COR).]

[RR 1997, c. 1, §12 (COR).]

3.  Bribery in official and political matters is a Class C crime.

[PL 2001, c. 471, Pt. A, §22 (AMD).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1975, c. 499, §1 (NEW). PL 1981, c. 349, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1983, c. 583, §8 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 502, §A47 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 396, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 33, §3 (AMD). RR 1997, c. 1, §12 (COR). PL 1997, c. 223, §1 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 471, §A22 (AMD).