AUGUSTA – Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe is advising law enforcement officials there are clear limits on how they must handle suspected cases of anthrax exposure or contamination. It is the first of what may be several advisories as Rowe’s office reviews all state laws that may deal with terrorist activity.

“We decided to issue this advisory because of the numbers of questions we received,” Rowe said, “like whether a person could be detained when they might have been exposed.”

The answer is no.

There have been scores of incidents across the state where police have investigated possible anthrax contamination, from suspicious powder in a letter at someone’s home to what turned out to be tartar sauce on a package at a factory. None of the packages has tested positive for anthrax.

Rowe said his office concluded, after consulting with the Bureau of Health, that since there is a low risk of transmission of anthrax from one person to another, it is not necessary for law enforcement officers to detain people suspected of anthrax exposure or infection.

But Rowe said police clearly have the right to detain someone if they have probable cause to believe there was criminal activity. He said the advisory is limited to anthrax and does not apply to situations of exposure or possible contamination for any other type of communicable disease. He said additional advisories may be issued as his office continues to review laws and police procedures following the terrorist attacks.

“I have ordered the 13 division heads to review all state laws to see if we need to propose any changes,” he said. “So far, no, we have not found any gaping holes that need to be filled.”

There are several state laws that could apply to terrorist activity, and some statutes clearly aimed at such illegal behavior. For example, Maine has a specific state law on the books that makes terrorizing and terrorist activity a crime. And there are provisions that increase the penalties if circumstances warrant.

“I think we have the statutes that cover that sort of anti-social behavior,” said Assistant Attorney General Charles Leadbetter. “If a terrorist assaults someone or threatens someone or kills someone, we have the laws already to cover those.”

But, Leadbetter said, there is a wide array of state laws that may cover terrorist activity, or the results of such a crime, and some of those may need to be changed. For example, there are several provisions in the law establishing the Bureau of Health that give public health officials the authority to deal with situations where a virus or bacterium has resulted in a threat to public health.

“Many of those statutes are very old and we may want to update some of the legislation in that area,” he said. “But we are still analyzing the language [of the laws.]”

Chief Deputy Attorney General Linda Pistner said the Attorney General’s Office is working with several task forces at both the state and federal levels to review laws and policies. She said there has been close cooperation among the various agencies as they develop plans and strategies to respond to both terrorist attacks and the scares caused by the anthrax cases in other states.

“I am very pleased with the cooperation I have seen,” she said. “Agencies are really working hard and working well together.”

Across the country, scores of proposals have been made by individual state lawmakers and state attorneys general. Rowe said he is also having his office review those proposals in other states and said that so far he has not seen any he would propose in Maine.

“But, we are not hiding our heads in the sand here,” he said. “If there is one or more pieces of legislation that need to be proposed, I will propose those as emergency legislation.”

There are measures proposed in other states that are not applicable to Maine. For instance, several states have proposals to make it easier to obtain court orders for wiretaps. Maine does not allow any wiretaps.

“We are one of, I think, about eight states that do not allow any wiretaps,” Leadbetter said. “We have managed to get by without a wiretap law. This is an area where the Legislature has spoken very clearly in the past.”

And Rowe said he is concerned about some proposals that are aimed at making it easier to prosecute terrorists at the state level. He said federal law will most likely cover any sort of terrorist activity, and state laws are not needed. He said he also has concerns about proposals such as one being considered in several states that would make it easier to get a search warrant if terrorist activity is being investigated.

“We have a constitution and it spells out our rights – rights we all have,” he said. “I am not going to support anything that undermines those fundamental rights.”