37-B M.R.S. § 441

This is the official text of 37-B M.R.S. § 441, part of Maine’s M.R.S — part of the compiled statutory law of Maine, published by the state as "M.R.S." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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37-B §441. Desertion

Official statutory text

1. Acts constituting. Any member of the military forces who commits any of the following acts is guilty of desertion: A. Without authority, goes or remains absent from the member's unit, organization or place of duty with intent to remain away permanently; [RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. B, §36 (COR).] B. Quits the member's unit, organization or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or [RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. B, §36 (COR).] C. Being a commissioned officer of the military forces who, after tender of the member's resignation and before notice of acceptance, quits the member's post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away permanently. [RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. B, §36 (COR).] [RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. B, §36 (COR).]

2. Punishment. Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. [PL 1983, c. 460, §3 (NEW).]

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.