HP0297, LD 458, item 1, An Act To Implement a Motor Vehicle Violation Electronic Citation Program

An Act To Implement a Motor Vehicle Violation Electronic Citation Program

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

Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:

3. Form of Violation Summons and Complaint. Every law enforcement agency officer in this State shall must use traffic summonses for traffic infractions in the form known as the Violation Summons and Complaint, which must be uniform throughout the State and must be issued in books with summonses in no less than quadruplicate and meeting the requirements of this chapter. The form must include, at a minimum, the signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense , the mailing address and e-mail address of the person who has been served the Violation Summons and Complaint, except as provided in Title 5, section 90-B, and the date on or before which the person is to file a written answer with the violations bureau. The Violation Summons and Complaint must also include a statement that signing the summons does not constitute an admission or plea of guilty and that refusal to sign after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer is a separate Class E crime. The form of the Violation Summons and Complaint must be approved by the Chief Judge of the District Court prior to its use.

Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 112, §9, is amended to read:

3-A. Electronic Violation Summons and Complaint. Notwithstanding subsection 3, the every law enforcement officer in this State must use an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint when issuing a traffic summons for a traffic infraction if requested by the person who has been served the traffic summons. The Chief Judge of the District Court may shall approve for use an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form. The electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form must include, at a minimum, an electronic or digital signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense , the mailing address and e-mail address of the person who has been served the electronic Violation Summons and Complaint, except as provided in Title 5, section 90-B, and the date on or before which the person is to file a written answer with the violations bureau.

Sec. 3. 29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:

9. Responsibility of law enforcement officer to file summonses and complaints with District Court. A law enforcement officer issuing a Violation Summons and Complaint under subsection 3 charging the commission of a traffic infraction shall file the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint with the violations bureau within 5 days of the issuance of the Violation Summons and Complaint. The clerk of the District Court Violations Bureau shall enter a Violation Summons and Complaint into the District Court Violations Bureau case management system within 2 business days of the filing of the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint under subsection 3 by a law enforcement officer. A law enforcement officer issuing a Uniform Summons and Complaint that charges the commission of an offense shall file the original of the Uniform Summons and Complaint with the District Court having jurisdiction over the offense or in such other location as instructed by the Chief Judge of the District Court without undue delay and, in any event, within 5 days after the issuance of the Uniform Summons and Complaint.

Sec. 4. Electronic system; District Court Violations Bureau; report. The Chief Judge of the District Court, or the chief judge's designee, shall provide a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters no later than January 15, 2017 regarding implementation of an electronic case management, data storage and filing system for the judicial branch. The report must summarize efficiencies realized by electronic processing of traffic summonses within the District Court Violations Bureau.

The Chief Judge of the District Court and the Commissioner of Public Safety shall facilitate the use of roadside credit card apparatus for payment of a traffic summons and shall develop and initiate a campaign to educate the public about electronic Violation Summonses and Complaints and roadside credit card payments.

summary

This bill requires every law enforcement officer in the State to use an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form if requested by the person who has been served a traffic summons. The Chief Judge of the District Court is required to approve for use an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint.

The bill also requires both the paper and electronic forms for a traffic summons for a traffic infraction, referred to as the Violation Summons and Complaint, to include the regular mailing address and the e-mail address of the person who has been served the traffic summons. The bill also requires that the clerk of the District Court Violations Bureau enter the paper form of a Violation Summons and Complaint into the violations bureau's case management system within 2 business days of the law enforcement officer's filing of the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint.

The bill also requires that the Chief Judge of the District Court provide a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters no later than January 15, 2017 regarding implementation of an electronic case management, data storage and filing system for the judicial branch. The bill provides that the report must summarize efficiencies realized by electronic processing of traffic summonses within the District Court Violations Bureau. The bill also requires the Chief Judge of the District Court and the Commissioner of Public Safety to facilitate the roadside credit card payment of traffic summonses for traffic infractions and to develop and initiate a campaign to educate the public about electronic Violations Summonses and Complaints and roadside credit card payment.

HP0297 LD 458	Session - 127th Maine Legislature		LR 303 Item 1
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