AUGUSTA – Legislative leaders today will consider a bill allowing the mother of a child who died in foster care to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Human Services.

Filed last week by Rep. Stavros Mendros, R-Lewiston, the “after-deadline bill” must be approved by a majority of the 10-member Legislative Council, which includes the president of the Senate, speaker of the House, floor leaders and assistant floor leaders.

Mendros said Tuesday that he submitted the bill at the behest of Christy Baker, mother of 5-year-old Logan Marr. The child died in January from asphyxiation after her foster mother covered her mouth with duct tape and left her alone in a basement.

The legislative hearing is part of a series of events that has occurred since foster mother Sally Schofield, 39, of Chelsea, a former DHS caseworker, was freed on $500 cash bail March 13 after being charged with manslaughter.

On Tuesday, District Court Judge John Nivison of Augusta increased Schofield’s bail to $12,500 cash or $25,000 in property after Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson argued that the initial amount was inappropriate.

The action came in the wake of a letter that Baker’s attorney, Cliff Fuller of Belfast, sent to Benson this week telling him that the mother is “incensed” that Schofield has been charged with manslaughter instead of depraved indifference murder, and that she is “similarly outraged” at the amount of bail.

Ten days ago, state Sen. Tom Sawyer, R-Bangor, began circulating a petition among fellow legislators requesting that the Inspector General’s Office for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determine whether statutes were followed properly and whether they should be changed as a result of the fatality.

Meanwhile, Mendros said Tuesday that Baker asked him to submit the bill when he telephoned her last week to apologize for the tragedy.

“You’re the only one who’s apologized to me,” he said she told him.

Mendros said he hoped Baker would be present at today’s legislative hearing during which he will have to explain why the bill is late, why it can’t wait, and why it can’t be enjoined with a similar bill already introduced.

Residents are prohibited from suing the state without getting the government’s permission.

And while the Legislature could withhold permission, Fuller seriously doubts that will happen. “I can’t imagine with all the talk and publicity and notoriety [with this case] that any legislator would want to be in that position,” he said.

The proposal stands a good chance of approval, according to the Mendros. “It meets all the criteria,” he said.

Nor is he worried about drumming up support once the legislative council gives it the go-ahead.

“I’ll have no problem getting sponsors,” said Mendros, who already has a list of interested lawmakers.

If the bill is approved it goes to the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee, which must vote whether to send it on to the House and the Senate.

Bills allowing people to petition the Legislature to sue the state aren’t unusual, according to Bob Michaud, associate law librarian at the State House. “We get a few of these every two years or so,” he said.

Mendros first spoke with Baker last summer when she was living in Lewiston and needed help dealing with DHS. The mother was concerned even then that her children were being abused in foster care, he said.

On Tuesday, Baker brought her daughter’s ashes to the Augusta court and said she hoped Schofield would spend the rest of her life behind bars.

“I don’t think it’s fair that she’s running around,” Baker said. “She killed my daughter.”

Charles Dow, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said that bail previously had been set by the bail commissioner, and that a motion was filed March 15 to reconsider the bail given the nature of Schofield’s offense.

The case still is being investigated and the manslaughter charge could change as more evidence becomes available, according to Dow. “But there’s no reason anyone should have the expectation” that it will change, he said.

Meanwhile, the assistant to Sen. Sawyer said the legislator had garnered between 70 and 100 signatures, and that he would deliver the petition to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ Bangor office on Thursday.

For his part, Mendros regrets that he was unable to help Baker the first time around.

“I’m doing something now,” he said. “It’s too late for Logan, but it’s something.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.