An Act To Simplify the Maine Turnpike Authority's Enforcement Procedures for Toll Violations
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1705
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: HATCH
Amends: 23 MRSA §1980

Legislative Document 
No. 1705 
S.P.637 
In Senate, December 17, 2003 
An Act To Simplify the Maine Turnpike Authority's Enforcement 
Procedures for Toll Violations 
Submitted by the Maine Turnpike Authority pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 16, 2003. Referred to the Committee 
on Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401. 
Presented by Senator HATCH of Somerset. 
Printed on recycled paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 23 MRS A §1965, sub-§I,,v, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 
311, §3, is amended to read: 
V. 
Develop programs whereby a patron of the turnpike who 
uses the authority's electronic toll collection system, as 
defined in section 1980, subsection 1 2-A, paragraph B, 
may 
elect to use the patron's electronic toll collection system 
device to pay for services other than tolls for the use of 
the turnpike, whether those services are provided by the 
authority itself or 3rd parties, and allow the patron to 
participate in similar programs developed by other tolling 
authorities. 
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §1980, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2001, c. 
154, §§l to 4, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
2-A. 
Toll violations. 
In addition to potential criminal 
liability under subsection I-A, the registered owner of a vehicle 
may be liable for civil penalties for failure to pay a toll as 
set out in this subsection. 
A. 
If an operator of a vehicle fails to pay a toll, the 
registered owner of that vehicle is liable for payment of 
the toll and is subject to a civil penalty of: 
(1) 
Fifty dollars, except as provided in subparagraph 
( 2) 0 r -.i...ll..L 
(2) 
One hundred dollars, if a failure to pay a toll 
occurs within 18 months of a prior failure to pay; or 
(3) 
One hundred fifty dollars, if a failure to pay a 
toll occurs 
within 
months 
of 
or 
more 
prior 
failures to pay. 
B. As used in this subsection, unless the context otherwise 
indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. 
(1) 
"Administrative 
fee" 
means 
the 
fee 
imposed 
pursuant to paragraph C, subparagraph (4). 
(2) 
"Electronic 
toll 
collection 
system" 
means 
a 
system of collecting tolls or other charges that is 
capable of charging an account holder the appropriate 
amount by transmission of information between a device 
on a motor vehicle and a toll collection facility. 
Page l-LR2565(1) 
(3) 
"Pay" means paying a toll by cash, by permitting a 
charge against a valid account with the authority or by 
any other means of payment approved by the authority at 
the time. 
(4) 
"Photo-monitoring system" means 
a motor vehicle 
sensor installed to work in conjunction with a toll 
collection 
facility 
that 
automatically 
produces 
a 
photograph, 
microphotograph, 
videotape 
or 
other 
recorded image of a motor vehicle when the operator of 
the motor vehicle fails to pay a toll. 
{5} 
"Registered owner" means a person in whose name a 
motor 
vehicle 
is 
registered 
under 
the 
law 
of 
a 
jurisdiction, including a 
person issued a dealer or 
transporter registration plate. 
(6) 
"Toll" or "tolls" means tolls or other charges 
prescribed by the authority for use of the turnpike or 
for other services provided to a turnpike patron under 
section 1965, subsection I, paragraph V. 
( 7) 
"Violation 
clerk" 
means 
an 
employee 
of 
the 
authority 
designated 
by 
the 
authority 
to 
enforce 
violations 
and adjudicate appeals relating to those 
violations under this subsection. 
c. 
The 
following 
procedures 
must 
be 
followed 
for 
the 
collection of tolls, administrative fees and civil penalties 
under this subsection. 
(1) 
The authority shall send a notice of liability by 
first-class mail to a person alleged to be liable as a 
registered owner 
under this subsection. 
The 
notice 
must be sent to the address of the registered owner on 
record with the authority if the registered owner is an 
electronic toll collection patron of the authority or, 
if no such record exists, the address of the registered 
owner on record with the Secretary of State. 
A manual 
or automatic record of the mailing prepared in the 
ordinary course of business of the authority is prima 
facie evidence of the mailing of the notice. 
(2) 
A notice of liability must include the name and 
address 
of 
the 
person 
alleged 
to 
be 
liable 
as 
a 
registered owner for the failure to pay a toll under 
this subsection, the amount of the toll not paid, the 
registration number of the vehicle involved, the toll 
collection facility at which the failure occurred and 
the date and the approximate time of the failure. 
The 
notice 
must 
also 
include 
the 
name, 
address 
and 
telephone number of the violation clerk responsible for 
enforcing the penalty for the failure to pay. 
(3) 
A notice of liability must include information 
advising the person liable under this subsection of the 
manner and time in which the liability alleged in the 
notice may 
be 
contested and the statutory defenses 
described in paragraph E. 
The notice must also include 
a warning that failure to contest in the manner and 
time provided is an admission of liability and a waiver 
of available defenses and may result in revocation of 
the registration certificate and plates issued for the 
vehicle. 
(4) 
Within 30 calendar days after the date of the 
issuance of the notice of liability, the registered 
owner to whom the notice is issued must: 
(a) 
Pay the amount of the toll for which the 
. person is liable, the civil penalty or penalties 
provided for in paragraph A and an administrative 
fee of $20 for each toll for which the person is 
liable but has not paidj 
(b) 
Send 
a 
written 
dispute 
by 
mail 
to 
the 
violation clerk named in the notice , 
as provided 
by paragraph Ij or 
.Lc) 
Request a hearing with the violation clerk 
named in the notice as provided by paragraph J. 
D. 
Except as provided in paragraph E, it is not a defense 
to liability under this subsection that a registered owner 
was not operating the motor vehicle at the time of the 
failure to pay. 
E. 
Defenses to liability under this subsection are as set 
out in this paragraph. 
(1) 
If a person other than the registered owner of the 
motor 
vehicle 
is 
adjudicated criminally or 
civilly 
responsible for the failure to pay a toll, then the 
registered owner is not liable under this subsection. 
(2) 
I f the registered owner of the motor vehicle is 
the lessor of motor vehicles and at the time of the 
failure to pay an authority toll the motor vehicle was 
in the possession of a lessee and the lessor provides 
the 
authority with 
a 
copy 
of 
the 
lease 
agreement 
.. 
• 
containing 
the 
information 
required 
by Title 
29-A, 
section 254, then the lessee, and not the lessor, is 
liable under this subsection. 
(3) If the motor vehicle is operated using a dealer or 
transporter registration plate and at the time of the 
failure to pay the motor vehicle was under the custody 
or 
control 
of 
a 
person other 
than 
the 
dealer 
or 
transporter, and if the dealer or transporter provides 
the authority with the name and address of the person 
who had custody or control over the motor vehicle at 
the time of the failure to pay, then that person and 
not the dealer or transporter is liable under this 
subsection. 
(4) If a report that the motor vehicle was stolen is 
given to a law enforcement officer or agency before the 
failure to pay occurs or within a reasonable time after 
the registered owner becomes aware of the theft, then 
the 
registered 
owner 
is 
not 
liable 
under 
this 
subsection. 
F. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to limit the 
liability of an operator of a motor vehicle for a failure to 
pay an authority toll. 
If a person who is liable for a 
failure to pay under this subsection was not the operator of 
the motor vehicle at the time of the failure to pay, that 
person may maintain an action for indemnification against 
the operator to recover all tolls, administrative fees and 
civil penalties paid by that person under this subsection. 
G. 
If 
a 
registered owner 
does not dispute 
a 
notice of 
liability or pay the tolls, administrative fees and civil 
penal ties as required by paragraph C, subparagraph (4), or 
if 
the 
registered 
owner 
does 
not 
pay 
the 
tolls, 
administrative fees and civil penalties required by a final 
decision of a violation clerk as provided in paragraphs 
I 
and J, 
then the authority shall notify the Secretary of 
State, 
who shall, in accordance with Title 29-A, 
section 
154, subsection 6, suspend the registration certificate and 
plates 
issued 
for 
the 
vehicle 
involved 
in 
the 
alleged 
failure to pay. 
H. 
Combinations of vehicles involving a motor vehicle and 
one or more trailers or semi trailers eguipped with a total 
of 3 or more axles, including motor vehicles with 6 or more 
tires towing a trailer, but not including motor vehicles 
with 4 tires or fewer towing a trailer, are not subject to 
an administrative fee under this subsection. 
I. 
The registered owner may. without waiving the right to a 
hearing before a violation clerk as provided by paragraph J 
and also without waiving the right to judicial review as 
provided by Title 5. chapter 375. subchapter 7. 
appeal a 
notice of liability as provided by paragraph C. subparagraph 
(4) and receive a review and disposition of the violation 
from a violation clerk by mail. 
The appeal by mail must 
contain 
a 
signed 
statement 
from 
the 
registered 
owner 
explaining the basis for the appeal. 
The signed statement 
may 
be 
accompanied by signed statements 
from witnesses. 
police officers. 
government 
officials 
or 
other 
relevant 
parties or photographs. 
diagrams. 
maps or other relevant 
documents that the registered owner determines appropriate 
to submit. 
Statements or materials sent to 
a 
violation 
clerk for review must have attached to them the name and 
address of the registered owner as well as the number of the 
notice of 'liability and the date of the violation. 
All 
information submitted by the registered owner becomes part 
of the violation record. 
The violation clerk shall. within 
days of receipt of such material. review the material and 
dismiss or uphold the violation and notify the registered 
owner of the disposition of the hearing in writing by mail. 
If the appeal by mail is denied. the violation clerk shall 
explain the reasons for the determination. 
The review and 
disposition handled 
by 
mail 
is 
informal. 
the 
rules 
of 
evidence do not apply and the decision is final. subject to 
the hearing provisions of paragraph J. 
J. 
As provided by paragraph C. subparagraph (4) or within 
days of the issuance of a decision by a violation clerk 
under paragraph 1, 
a registered owner may make 
a written 
request 
for 
an 
appeal hearing before 
a 
violation clerk 
designated by the authority. 
The violation clerk shall then 
notify the registered owner in writing by first-class mail 
of the date. time and place of the hearing. The hearing is 
informal. 
the 
rules 
of 
evidence 
do 
not 
apply 
and 
the 
decision of the violation clerk is final. 
The violation 
clerk shall notify the parties in person or by mail of the 
decision 
following 
the 
hearing. 
Each 
written 
appeal 
decision 
must 
contain 
a 
statement 
of 
reasons 
for 
the 
decision including a determination of each issue of fact 
necessary to the decision. 
Failure to appear at the date. 
time and place specified on the hearing notice automatically 
results in the denial of the appeal. 
K. 
Any decision by a violation clerk under this section is 
subject to judicial review of final agency action in the 
manner provided by Title 5. chapter 375. subchapter 7. 
• 
• 
Sec. 3. 29-A MRS A §154, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 65, 
Pt. A, 
§84 and affected by §153 and Pt. 
C, §15, is amended to 
read: 
6. 
Recovery of turnpike tolls. 
Upon receipt of aB-eFaeF-ef 
s~s~eBsieB notice from 
the 
ee~Ft Maine Turnpike Authority in 
accordance with Title 23, section 1980, subsection 2-A, paragraph 
G, 
the Secretary of State shall 
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The Secretary of State may not reinstate the 
registration certificate and plates until the 
Maine 
Turnpike 
Authority provides notice that the toll and applicable fines and 
penalties have been paid. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, Title 5, section 9052, 
subsection 1 does not apply to a 
notice of suspension issued pursuant to this subsection. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Maine Turnpike Authority's procedures 
for collecting fees and fines for failure to pay tolls.