BIDDEFORD – The city’s unionized police and public works employees were exercising their right to free speech when they honked their horns during a 15-second protest outside a City Council meeting last month, according to state Attorney General Steven Rowe.

Employees should not have been told that such protests could lead to disorderly conduct charges, Rowe said in a letter to Police Chief Roger Beaupre.

Rowe’s letter contradicted the advice of an attorney in his office, Brian MacMaster, who had said such a warning was accurate and appropriate.

Based on MacMaster’s advice, Beaupre had warned the employees that they could face criminal charges if they continued the noisy protest.

“The informal views expressed in Mr. MacMaster’s e-mail message do not represent the official position of this office,” Rowe wrote.

“On the contrary, we believe that their conduct, under the circumstances, involved the expression of free speech protected by the First Amendment.”

Biddeford teachers, police and public works employees have been without contracts since July. Rowe’s letter means the honking may return at the next City Council meeting.