An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1496
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: BUNKER, CARPENTER, CHURCHILL, LESSARD, SNOWE-MELLO
Amends: 15 MRSA §1102, 15 MRSA §3003, 15 MRSA §3203-A, 15 MRSA §3206, 15 MRSA §3307, 15 MRSA §3314

Legislative Document 
No. 1496 
H.P.1093 
House of Representati ves, March 31, 2003 
An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code 
Submitted by the Department of Corrections pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Jrl~ 
/h.11!d£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative BUNKER of Kossuth Township. 
Cosponsored by Senator CARPENTER of York and 
Representatives: CHURCHILL of Washburn, LESSARD of Topsham, SNOWE-MELLO of 
Poland. 
Printed on ftX:ycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §1102, as amended PL 2001, c. 667, Pt. A, 
§3l, is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3003, sub-§14-B, 1[B, as amended by PL 1999, 
c. 624, Pt. B, §2 and PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. G, 
§6" 
is further 
amended to read: 
B. 
To provide appropriate services to juveniles committed 
to 
tB.e-~-GFee-li--¥e'li.tB.--De-ve-loprAent--GeBteF ~epartment of 
Corrections juvenile correctional facility who are on leave 
or in the community on aftercare; and 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§4-A is enacted to read: 
4-A. 
Probable cause determination. 
Except in a bona fide 
emergency or other extraordinary circumstance, when a 
juvenile 
arrested without a warrant is not released or does not receive a 
detention hearing 
under 
subsection 
within 
hours 
after 
arrest, 
including Saturdays, 
Sundays 
and legal holidays, 
the 
Juvenile Court shall determine, within that time period, whether 
there 
is 
probable 
cause 
to 
believe 
that 
the 
juvenile 
has 
committed a juvenile crime. 
Evidence presented to establish such 
probable 
cause 
may 
include 
testimony, 
affidavits 
and 
other 
reliable hearsay evidence as permitted by the court. 
If the 
evidence does not establish such probable cause, the court shall 
order the juvenile'S discharge from detention. 
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§5, 1[C, as repealed and replaced 
by PL 1999, c. 127, Pt. A, §32 and c. 260, Pt. A, §5, is amended 
to read: 
C. 
Continued detention 
may 
not 
be 
ordered 
unless 
the 
Juvenile Court has determined pursuant to subsection 4-A or 
determines at the detention hearing that there is probable 
cause to believe that the juvenile has committed a juvenile 
crime. 
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1993, c. 
675, Pt. B, §13, is further amended to read: 
6. 
Availability of judges. 
The Chief Judge of the District 
Court shall provide that a Juvenile Court Judge is available to 
make the probable cause determination described in subsection 4-A 
on all days including Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. 
The 
Chief Judge of the District Court shall provide that a Juvenile 
Court Judge is available to preside at the detention hearingT 
described in subsection 5 T 
on all days except Saturdays, Sundays 
and legal holidays. 
Page l-LR1963(1) 
Sec. 6. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§11 is enacted to read: 
11. 
Review of order. 
Upon petition by a juvenile community 
corrections officer or an attorney for the State and a showing of 
changed circumstances, the Juvenile Court may review an order for 
detention, conditional release or unconditional release and may 
enter a new order in accordance with this section. 
Sec. 7. 15 MRSA §3206 is enacted to read: 
§3206. 
Detention of juveniles charged as adults 
A person under 18 yea~s of age who is arrested for a crime 
defined under Title 12 or Title 29-A that is not a juvenile crime 
as defined in section 3103 may not be detained unless a juvenile 
community corrections officer has been notified within 2 hours 
after 
the 
person's 
arrest 
and 
has 
approved 
the 
detention. 
Section 3203-A, subsection 7, paragraphs A and B governing the 
facilities 
in which 
juveniles may 
be detained apply to 
any 
detention of such a juvenile following arrest. 
Sec. 8. 15 MRSA §3307, sub-§2, 1[A, as amended by PL 1981, c. 
361, is further amended to read: 
A. 
~~e Once a petition is filed, the general public 
s~all 
may not be excluded from any 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 9FL from any 
proceeding on a juvenile crime that would constitute a Class 
D crime if the juvenile involved were an adult T and it is 
the 2nd or subsequent Class D crime for that juvenile not 
arising from the same underlying transactionTL or from any 
subsequent dispositional hearings in such cases. 
Sec. 9. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1997, c. 752, 
§22, is further amended to read: 
4. 
Medical support. 
Whenever the court commits a juveniie 
to a Department of Corrections juvenile correctional facility or 
to the Department of Human Services or for a period of detention 
or places a juvenile on a period of probation, it shall require 
the parent or legal guardian to provide medical insurance for or 
contract to pay the full cost of any medical treatment, mental 
health treatment, substance abuse treatment and counseling that 
may be provided to the juvenile while the juvenile is committed, 
including while on aftercare status or on probation, unless it 
determines that such a 
requirement would create an excessive 
hardship on the parent or legal guardian, or other dependent of 
the parent or legal guardian, in which case it shall require the 
parent or legal guardian to pay a reasonable 
amount~ toward the 
cost, the amount to be determined by the court. 
An order under this subsection is enforceable under Title 19-A, 
section 2603. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires the Juvenile Court to determine within 48 
hours 
after 
a 
juvenile has 
been arrested whether 
there is 
probable cause to believe that the juvenile has 
committed a 
juvenile crime. 
The bill requires 
the 
Chief 
Judge 
of 
the 
District Court to have 
a 
Juvenile 
Court Judge available 
on 
Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. 
The bill also moves the 
section of law that deals with detention of juveniles charged as 
adults from the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, section 1102 to 
section 3206.