CHAPTER 135
H.P. 1055 - L.D. 1487
An Act to Authorize Clerks to Sign Notices of Certain Court Actions
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §107, as amended by PL 1995, c. 560, Pt. I, §4, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
The clerk of the Superior Court may sign notices to appear in court for hearings on nonpayment of fines, counsel fees or restitution.
Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §159, as amended by PL 1995, c. 560, Pt. I, §14, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
The clerk of the District Court may sign notices to appear in court for hearings on nonpayment of fines, counsel fees or restitution.
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1304, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1987, c. 861, §15, is further amended to read:
1. When a convicted person sentenced to pay a fine defaults in the payment of the fine or of any installment, the court, upon the motion of the official to whom the money is payable, as provided in section 1303, or upon its own motion, may require that person to show cause why that person should not be committed to the custody of the sheriff for nonpayment and may issue a summons or a warrant of arrest for that person's appearance. The clerk of the court shall notify the person to appear in court.
Unless such person shows that the default was not attributable to a willful refusal to obey the order of the court or to a failure on that person's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds required for the payment, the court shall find that the default was unexcused and may commit that person to the custody of the sheriff until the fine or a specified part of the fine is paid. The length of incarceration for such unexcused nonpayment of the fine shall must be specified in the court's order and shall may not exceed one day for each $5 of the fine or 6 months, whichever is the shorter. When a fine is imposed on an organization, it is the duty of the person or persons authorized to make disbursements from the assets of the organization to pay it from such assets and failure so to do may subject every such person to court action pursuant to this section. A person committed for nonpayment of a fine shall must be given credit towards its payment for each day after commmitment commitment that the person is in custody, at the rate specified in the court's order. The person shall must also be given credit for each day that the person has been detained as a result of an arrest warrant issued pursuant to this section.
See title page for effective date.
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