Maine’s Yellow Flag law lets a police officer, working with a medical clinician and a judge, temporarily take dangerous weapons away from a person who poses a serious risk of harming themselves or someone else. It is codified at Title 34-B, Section 3862-A of the Maine Revised Statutes, and it works differently from the “red flag” laws in most other states because it requires both protective custody and a clinical assessment before any weapons are removed.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders What follows walks through the process step by step, what the restricted person can do at each stage, and what happens if the order is violated.
How the Process Starts
The Yellow Flag process does not begin with a court petition. It begins with a law enforcement officer taking someone into protective custody. The officer needs probable cause to believe the person is mentally ill and, because of that condition, poses a substantial risk of serious physical harm through possessing, controlling, or potentially acquiring a dangerous weapon.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders The statute describes that risk in terms of recent behaviors or threats of suicide, serious self-harm, or violence toward others that would place people in reasonable fear.
While the person is in custody, a medical practitioner performs an assessment for a “likelihood of foreseeable harm.” The officer shares what prompted the custody, including criminal history and any recent threats. The clinician can consult with other medical professionals, and if the person could benefit from treatment, the clinician must refer them to services.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders This clinical step is what makes Maine’s approach distinctive. No other state requires a medical assessment before weapons can be restricted.
The assessment normally happens during protective custody. If the person has already been released after a separate examination under Maine’s general mental health protective-custody statute, the assessment can be completed within 24 hours of release.
Judicial Endorsement and the 30-Day Notice
If the clinician concludes the person does present a foreseeable risk of harm, they notify law enforcement in writing. The officer then seeks endorsement of that assessment from a Superior Court Justice, District Court Judge, or justice of the peace. That judicial review happens before any weapons are removed.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
Once a judicial officer signs off, law enforcement notifies the person that they are now a “restricted person.” At the time of notice, the restricted person cannot possess, control, or acquire any dangerous weapon; must immediately surrender all weapons in their possession or control to a law enforcement officer with jurisdiction over the weapons’ location; and has a right to a judicial hearing within 30 days.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
One detail matters here. The law covers “dangerous weapons,” not just firearms. Maine’s definition under Title 17-A includes firearms but reaches other weapons as well, and all qualifying weapons must be surrendered.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
The Hearing
Within 14 days of the person receiving notice, the court schedules a hearing in the district where the person was taken into protective custody. Both the restricted person and the district attorney get at least seven days’ advance notice of the date. The hearing itself must be held within 30 days of the initial notice, though a court may extend that deadline for good cause.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
At the hearing, the petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the restricted person poses a substantial risk of harm. That is a demanding standard, well above the “more likely than not” threshold used in most civil cases. The restricted person has the right to be represented by counsel, and the court may appoint an attorney for anyone who cannot afford one.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
The court can either dissolve the initial restrictions or extend them. An extended order can last up to one year from the date it is issued.
Duration, Renewal, and Ending an Order Early
Initial restrictions last 30 days unless the hearing produces an extended order. Extended orders run up to one year.2Maine Judicial Branch. Extreme Risk Protection Orders
As the expiration date approaches, the petitioner can move to renew. That motion must be filed no more than 30 days and no fewer than 14 days before the order expires. Renewal requires a fresh hearing under the same clear-and-convincing-evidence standard, so restrictions do not roll over automatically.2Maine Judicial Branch. Extreme Risk Protection Orders
If the restricted person believes the risk has diminished, they can file a motion to dissolve the order before it expires. The court holds a hearing, and the burden is on the restricted person to show the restrictions are no longer warranted.
What the Restricted Person Can Challenge
The Yellow Flag law builds in more procedural protections than most states’ firearm-restriction laws, and each one is a possible line of defense at the hearing:
- Notice. Law enforcement must personally inform the person of the restrictions, the surrender requirement, and the right to a hearing.
- Timing. The hearing must occur within 30 days, with at least seven days’ notice of the date.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
- Counsel. The person can hire an attorney or ask for court-appointed counsel if they cannot afford one.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
- The evidence. The sufficiency, accuracy, and timeliness of what the petitioner presents can all be questioned. If the medical assessment was incomplete or relied on stale information, that weakness can be raised.
- The procedure. If law enforcement skipped a step, imposed restrictions without judicial endorsement, or ran the medical assessment outside the permitted window, those failures can be grounds to dissolve the order.
- Early dissolution. Even after an extended order is in place, the restricted person can move to end it early.
Penalties for Violating an Order
p>A person who possesses or controls a dangerous weapon while subject to Yellow Flag restrictions commits a Class D crime under Title 15, Section 393 of the Maine Revised Statutes.3Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 15 393 – Possession of Firearms Prohibited for Certain Persons4Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 17-A 1604 – Imprisonment for Crimes Other Than Murder5Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 17-A 1704 – Maximum Fine Amounts Authorized for Convicted Persons
Someone who makes all practical, immediate efforts to comply with the surrender requirement is not subject to arrest or prosecution under that provision. The law recognizes that turning in every weapon may take real logistical effort if items are stored in multiple locations.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
Federal exposure is possible in a narrower set of cases. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), a person under a qualifying state protection order commits a federal crime by possessing a firearm, but the federal statute targets orders involving intimate partners, so a Yellow Flag order based on threats to a neighbor or coworker would not meet the federal criteria.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Where the underlying risk involves domestic violence, both state and federal penalties can stack, and the federal maximum is ten years in prison.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions
Getting Weapons Back
Law enforcement stores surrendered weapons for as long as the order is in effect. Agencies can handle storage themselves, arrange it through another agency, or use a federally licensed firearms dealer.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
When an order expires without renewal or is dissolved, the person is entitled to their weapons back, assuming they are not otherwise prohibited from possessing them under state or federal law. If someone other than the restricted person owns a surrendered weapon, that owner can claim it after a background check and a written attestation that the weapon will be stored securely and kept away from the restricted person.
Retrieval is rarely instant. Contact the agency holding the weapons well before the expiration date to find out what paperwork and identification are needed. Do not count on same-day return.
How the Yellow Flag Law Differs From Maine’s ERPO Act
Maine now has two separate extreme risk protection order frameworks. Alongside the Yellow Flag law at Section 3862-A, voters approved the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act in 2025, codified at Title 25, Sections 2241 through 2252.8Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 25 2241 – Short Title The two laws operate side by side, and the differences matter if you are trying to figure out which one applies:
- Who can petition. Under the Yellow Flag law, only law enforcement can start the process, and only after protective custody and a medical assessment. Under the ERPO Act, family members, household members, current or former domestic partners, and law enforcement can all petition the court directly.
- Medical evaluation. The Yellow Flag law requires a clinical assessment before any restrictions take effect. The ERPO Act does not.
- Speed. The Yellow Flag law’s multiple steps take longer. The ERPO Act allows emergency ex parte orders, meaning a judge can temporarily restrict weapons before the respondent appears in court when there is immediate danger.
- Burden of proof. The Yellow Flag law uses clear and convincing evidence. The ERPO Act uses preponderance of the evidence for final orders.
- Duration. Both laws allow restrictions of up to one year, though under the Yellow Flag law initial restrictions last 30 days before a hearing decides whether to extend them.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 34-B 3862-A – Extreme Risk Protection Orders
The Yellow Flag law’s medical evaluation is both its safeguard and its bottleneck. It brings clinical judgment into the process, but it slows response in urgent situations. The ERPO Act was designed in part to fill that speed gap after the 2023 Lewiston shooting.