Officer or Official?
(from Maine Townsman, "Legal Notes," November 1990)
by Ellerbe P. Cole

This Maine Municipal Association publication is presented for "Classroom Use Only."  Its intended use is to stimulate and aid in discussion and role playing within a classroom setting.

Question: As I look through Title 30-A, I see some provisions that authorize "municipal officers" to act, and I have the impression that a municipal officer is not just any old municipal official. What is the difference between a municipal officer and a municipal official? Between a municipal official and an employee?

Answer: The terms "municipal officer" and "municipal official" are defined in Maine statute law for purposes of Title 30-A, which includes most of the statutes concerning municipal government. Municipal officers are, in effect, a sub-set of municipal officials. A municipal official is defined by 30-A MRSA § 2001(11) as "any elected or appointed member of a municipal government." Municipal officers are defined by 30-A MRSA § 2001(10) as "the selectmen or councillors of a town" or "the mayor and aldermen or councillors of a city." Thus, for examples, although a town clerk, treasurer, or tax collector is a municipal official, these officials are not municipal officers.

While some municipal officials (e.g., municipal officers) are not employees, some can be. The difference between an employee who is not a municipal official and one who is a municipal official is that an official is ordinarily expected and required to take an oath of office (and the fact of the oath-taking must be recorded by the clerk), while an employee is not. Thus, for example, a town treasurer (elected or appointed), though she or he is not a municipal officer, is a municipal official who must be sworn to office (and may also be an employee-that is, working for compensation), while a road maintenance and repair crewperson is ordinarily an employee but not a municipal official.