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Public Law
123rd Legislature
First Regular Session
Chapter 256
H.P. 305 - L.D. 389
An Act To Allow the District Court To Enter Parental Rights and Responsibilities Orders in Child Protection Proceedings
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4036, sub-§1-A  is enacted to read:
 
1-A.  Parental rights and responsibilities orders.     Upon request of a parent, the court may enter an order pursuant to Title 19-A, section 1653 if the court determines that the order will protect the child from jeopardy and is in the child’s best interest as defined in Title 19-A, section 1653, subsection 3. If the court enters an order pursuant to this subsection: 
 
A.  The order has the same force and effect as other orders entered pursuant to Title 19-A, section 1653; 
 
B.  The order is subject to modification or termination in the same manner as other orders entered pursuant to Title 19-A, section 1653; 
 
C.  Any person who requests a modification or termination of the order must serve the department with the motion or petition; 
 
D.  The department is not a party to proceedings to modify or terminate the order unless otherwise ordered by the court. This paragraph may not be construed to limit the department’s ability to request a judicial review pursuant to section 4038, subsection 2; 
 
E.  Notwithstanding section 4038, the court may order that further judicial reviews may not be held unless requested by a party and, notwithstanding section 4038-B, may order that further permanency planning hearings may not be held; and 
 
F.  The court may terminate the appointments of the guardian ad litem and attorneys for parents and guardians, in which case the attorneys and guardian ad litem have no further responsibilities to their clients or the court. 
 
Effective September 20, 2007