Representatives of the state Attorney General’s Office said Friday they believe the names of people who have been summoned for motor vehicle and other minor infractions should continue to be disclosed by police.

Chuck Dow, a lawyer and spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said the law at issue appears more gray than black or white, but that he is telling law enforcement agencies that summonses are similar to arrests and, as a result, must be made public.

Earlier this week, the Attorney General’s Office said it was advising departments the names of those summoned, as well as the names of complainants, witnesses and victims, should not be considered public information – at least in the early stages of the judicial process.

And earlier this month, Craig Cooley, administrative assistant with the Rockport Police Department, said an official from the Attorney General’s Office advised him at a Maine Chiefs of Police Association seminar that police should not make the summons information available. In turn, the Rockport police stopped releasing the names.

Questioned by members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Dow and William Stokes, also of the Attorney General’s Office, said a 1996 Oxford County Superior Court decision directs law enforcement agencies to keep secret the names of those who report crimes to police, as well as those who witness or are victimized by illegal activity.

But Dow said Friday his office has decided to advise law enforcement agencies that the names of those receiving summonses are akin to other parts of state law that provide for public access. At the same time, Dow said, the law is not entirely clear on the issue.

The issue may face more scrutiny and possible tinkering in the next legislative session.

On Friday, the House voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill, LD 1079, that would create a panel to examine compliance by law enforcement, municipal and school officials with the state’s Freedom of Access Law. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Theodore Koffman, D-Bar Harbor. The Senate has yet to take up the measure.

Some of the legislators’ recent interest in the state’s Freedom of Access Law was prompted by a statewide survey conducted late last year by the Freedom of Information Coalition, a group that included news media and other First Amendment advocates. The survey focused on the availability of public documents to members of the public who asked for them.

The coalition showed that, in some instances, some employees in Maine’s police departments and other public agencies did not understand what information was public or confidential.

Earlier this session, the House and Senate approved a bill directing each law enforcement agency to have one person trained in the nuances of the state’s Freedom of Access Law.

Rep. Janet Mills, a Farmington Democrat and former district attorney who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said the panel will probably revisit the issue next session.

She said she believes the list of people who receive summonses, as well as the names of complainants, witnesses and victims, should be available to the public.

Mills said that advice to police to keep the names of complainants, witnesses and victims secret “seems a little strange.”

“The whole section needs to be updated,” Mills said of the law.

Meanwhile, in Rockport, administrative assistant Cooley said he inspected his department’s public log and confirmed that police officers there are again making available all information – including the names of those charged.