An Act To Enhance Juvenile Rehabilitation
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1192
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: EDMONDS, LaFOUNTAIN, MARTIN, PENDLETON
Amends: 15 MRSA §3304, 15 MRSA §3314-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1192 
S.P.397 
In Senate, March 6, 2003 
An Act To Enhance Juvenile Rehabilitation 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator EDMONDS of Cumberland. 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Senators: LaFOUNTAIN of York, MARTIN of Aroostook, PENDLETON of 
Cumberland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3304, sub-§6-A. as amended by PL 1987, c. 
720, §2, is further amended to read: 
6-A. 
Attendance 
of 
parent, 
guardian 
or 
custodian; 
contempt. 
The parent, 
guardian or custodian shall appear 
~n 
R 
response to the summons pursuant to subsection 5 and shall attend 
all 
proceedings 
concerning 
the 
juvenile. 
The 
failure 
of 
a 
parent, guardian or legal custodian to appear in response to the 
summons or for a later hearing, or the inability to serve such a 
party, 
sRall-He~-~£e¥eH~ bars the court from continuing with the 
proceedings against a juvenile who is before the court, except as 
L4 
required in section 3314, subsection 1, paragraphs C-l and C-2. 
La 
A. 
The 
court 
may 
excuse 
the 
attendance 
of 
a 
parent, 
guardi§,n or custodian at 
a 
particular proceeding or all 
proceedings for good cause or if appearing in court will 
result 
in 
undue 
hardship 
to 
the 
parent, 
guardian 
or 
custodian. 
B. 
If the parent, guardian or custodian fails to appear 
with the juvenile and the court has not found good cause for 
not appearing, the court, after notice and hearing on the 
issue 
of 
contempt, 
may 
find 
the 
parent, 
guardian 
or 
custodian in contempt of court in accordance with the Maine 
Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 42(d). 
C. 
This subsection does not create a right for the juvenile 
to have the juvenile's parent, guardian or custodian present 
at any proceeding or court-ordered program that the juvenile 
attends or is reguired to attend. 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3314-B is enacted to read: 
Hi 
§33l4-B. 
Counseling, treatment. education or supervision 
for juveniles and their parents, guardians and 
l a 
custodians 
'.loO 
1. 
Counseling, 
treatment, 
education or supervision. 
In 
conjunction with a disposition under section 3314, the court may 
reguire 
the 
juvenile 
and 
the 
juvenile's parent, 
guardian or 
custodian to participate in counseling, treatment, education or 
supervision 
as 
determined 
by 
the 
court. 
The 
counseling, 
treatment, education or supervision must be designed to create a 
favorable environment for sustained, noncriminal behavior and may 
be provided by the court, court personnel, probation officers, 
professional 
counselors 
or 
social 
workers, 
psychologists, 
physicians, gualified volunteers or appropriate public, private 
r,o 
or volunteer agencies as directed by the court. 
Page l-LR0434(1) 
2. 
Costs. 
The 
court 
ma~ order 
a 
£arent, 
guardian or 
custodian 
to 
£a~ or 
cause 
to 
be 
£aid all 
Qr 
£art of 
the 
reasonable 
costs 
of 
an~ counseling, 
treatment, 
education 
or 
su£ervision ordered £ursuant to this section. 
3. 
Enforcement. 
After notice and hearing and in accordance 
B 
with the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 42(d), the court 
L2 
ma~ 
invoke 
its 
contem£t 
£owers 
treatment, education, su£ervision or 
the juvenile, the juvenile's £arent, 
other £erson before the court who 
£artici£ate in counseling, treatment, 
to 
enforce 
its 
counseling, 
other order that a££lies to 
guardian or custodian or an~ 
is subject to an order to 
education or su£ervision. 
4. 
Probation. 
The 
court 
ma~ not 
revoke 
a 
juvenile's 
L~ 
£robation because of a failure of the juvenile's £arent, guardian 
or custodian to com£l~ with an order under this section. 
'
" .. 
Ih 
, n 
,~ 
.' , 
',," 
Sec. 3. Application. 
This Act applies to juvenile crimes for 
which a summons is served on or after the effective date of this 
Act. 
SUMMARY 
This bill 
amends 
the 
Maine 
Juvenile 
Code 
to 
allow the 
juvenile court to require that the parent, guardian or custodian 
of a juvenile charged with committing a juvenile crime attend all 
juvenile court proceedings, unless the court excuses attendance 
for good cause. 
This bill amends the Maine Juvenile Code to allow a court to 
order the parent, guardian or custodian of a juvenile 
as having committed a juvenile crime to participate 
all or part of the reasonable costs of counseling, 
education and supervision as determined by the court. 
adjudicated 
in and pay 
treatment, 
:,~ 
This bill affirms that the court may invoke its contempt 
powers to enforce such attendance and court orders.