PUBLIC Law, Chapter 196, An Act To Improve Juvenile Justice

An Act To Improve Juvenile Justice

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3205, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §7, is further amended to read:

2. Exception. Subsection 1 applies to any person who is considered a juvenile by virtue of section 3101, subsection 2, paragraph D except that if the person has attained 18 years of age, any detention pursuant to section 3203-A and any confinement pursuant to section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph H or section 3314, subsection 7 may be, upon the order of a court, in an adult section of a jail or other secure detention facility intended or primarily used for the detention of adults and may extend beyond the time limits set out in section 3203-A and, except that if the person has attained 21 years of age, any detention pursuant to section 3203-A and any confinement pursuant to section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph H or section 3314, subsection 7 must be in an adult section of a jail or other secure detention facility intended or primarily used for the detention of adults and may extend beyond the time limits set out in section 3203-A.

Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3301, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2003, c. 305, §5, is further amended to read:

6. Review by attorney for the State. If the juvenile community corrections officer decides not to request the attorney for the State to file a petition, the juvenile community corrections officer shall inform the attorney for the State, the complainant, the law enforcement officer and the victim of the decision and of the reasons for the decision as soon as practicable. The juvenile community corrections officer shall advise the complainant, the law enforcement officer and the victim that they may submit their complaint to the attorney for the State for review.

If the juvenile community corrections officer makes a determination pursuant to subsection 5, paragraph A or B and decides not to request the attorney for the State to file a petition for a violation of Title 22, section 2389, subsection 2 or Title 28-A, section 2052, the juvenile community corrections officer shall inform the Secretary of State of the violation. The Secretary of State shall suspend for a period of 30 days that juvenile's license or permit to operate, right to operate a motor vehicle and right to apply for and obtain a license.

The attorney for the State on that attorney's own motion or upon receiving a request for review by the law enforcement officer, the complainant or the victim, shall consider the facts of the case, consult with the juvenile community corrections officer who made the initial decision and then make a final decision as to whether to file the petition. Notwithstanding any action or inaction by the juvenile community corrections officer, The attorney for the State shall notify the juvenile community corrections officer of the final decision within 30 days of being informed by the juvenile community corrections officer of the initial decision. If a juvenile community corrections officer has not yet made an initial decision, the attorney for the State may file a petition at any time more than 30 days after the juvenile community corrections officer has been given notice pursuant to section 3203-A.

Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3306-A, first ¶, as amended by PL 2003, c. 706, Pt. A, §4, is further amended to read:

At the juvenile's first appearance or at any a subsequent appearance before the court, the court may order the juvenile's unconditional release, conditional release or detention in accordance with section 3203-A. Unless the court orders otherwise, any a juvenile put on conditional release by a juvenile community corrections officer remains on conditional release until disposition the juvenile commences an informal adjustment pursuant to section 3301, subsection 5, paragraph B, the attorney for the State determines that no petition will be filed or the juvenile court enters a final dispositional order pursuant to section 3314.

Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3307, sub-§2, ¶A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 180, §8, is further amended to read:

A. Once a petition is filed, the general public may not be excluded from any a proceeding on a juvenile crime that would constitute murder or a Class A, Class B or Class C crime if the juvenile involved were an adult; from any a proceeding on a juvenile crime that would constitute a Class D crime if the juvenile involved were an adult and it is the 2nd or subsequent the juvenile has previously been adjudicated of committing a juvenile crime that would constitute a Class D or higher class crime for that juvenile not arising from the same underlying transaction; or from any a subsequent dispositional hearings hearing in such cases.

Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§7 is enacted to read:

7. Enforcement of a dispositional order or order to appear. After notice and hearing and in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66, the court may exercise its inherent contempt power by way of a plenary contempt proceeding involving punitive sanctions, accompanied or unaccompanied by remedial sanctions, to enforce the disposition ordered following an adjudication for a juvenile crime or to enforce any order requiring the appearance of a juvenile before the court. Any confinement imposed as a punitive or remedial sanction upon a person who has not attained 18 years of age may not exceed 30 days and must be served in a facility approved or operated by the Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles. To enforce the disposition ordered following an adjudication for a juvenile crime defined in section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B or C upon a person who has not attained 18 years of age, the court shall, at the time of the disposition, provide written notice to the juvenile of the court's authority to enforce the dispositional order through an exercise of its inherent contempt power and that a contempt order could include an order of confinement for up to 30 days as a punitive sanction and for up to 30 days as a remedial sanction. Nothing in this subsection affects the court's ability to exercise its contempt powers for persons who have attained 18 years of age.

Sec. 6. 15 MRSA §3314-B, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 142, §2 and affected by §3, is amended to read:

3. Enforcement. After notice and hearing and in accordance with the Maine Rules of Criminal Civil Procedure, Rule 42(d) 66, the court may invoke its contempt powers to enforce its counseling, treatment, education, case management or other order that applies to the juvenile, the juvenile's parent, guardian or legal custodian or any other person before the court who is subject to an order to participate in counseling, treatment, education or case management. If the court invokes its contempt powers against the juvenile, section 3314, subsection 7 applies.

Sec. 7. 34-A MRSA §3802, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §§20 and 21, is further amended to read:

1. Statement. The purposes of the Long Creek Youth Development Center are:

A. To detain juveniles pending a court proceeding;

B. To administer court-ordered diagnostic evaluations pursuant to Title 15, section 3309-A, and court-ordered examinations pursuant to Title 15, section 3318;

C. To rehabilitate juveniles committed to a juvenile correctional facility pursuant to Title 15, section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph F;

D. To protect the public from dangerous juveniles;

E. To confine juveniles ordered confined pursuant to Title 15, section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph H;

F. To confine juveniles ordered detained pursuant to Title 15, section 3312, subsection 3, paragraph D; and

G. To confine juveniles ordered confined pursuant to Title 12, sections 6004, 8004 and 10608 and Title 29-A, section 115 . ; and

H. To confine juveniles ordered confined pursuant to Title 15, section 3314, subsection 7.

Sec. 8. 34-A MRSA §4102-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §§24 and 25, is further amended to read:

1. Statement. The purposes of the Mountain View Youth Development Center are: