An Act to Improve Juvenile Rehabilitation
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0072
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: SNOWE-MELLO, MITCHELL, CLOUGH, GERZOFSKY, HEIDRICH, PATRICK, CARPENTER, DA VIS, MA YO, STRIMLING
Amends: 15 MRSA §3314

Legislative Document 
No. 72 
H.P.80 
House of Representatives, January 16,2003 
An Act to Improve Juvenile Rehabilitation 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative SNOWE-MELLO of Poland. 
Cosponsored by Senator MITCHELL of Penobscot and 
17/~ 
1n.71/0£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CLOUGH of Scarborough, GERZOFSKY of Brunswick, HEIDRICH of 
Oxford, PATRICK of Rumford, Senators: CARPENTER of York, DA VIS of Piscataquis, 
MA YO of Sagadahoc, STRIMLING of Cumberland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2001, c. 696, 
§5, is further amended to read: 
2. 
Suspended disposition. The court may impose any of the 
dispositional alternatives 
provided 
in subsection 
and 
may 
suspend its disposition and place the juvenile on a specified 
period of probation that is subject to such provisions of Title 
-A, 
section 
1204 
as 
the 
court 
may 
order 
and 
that 
lS 
administered pursuant to the provisions of Title 34-A, chapter 5, 
subchapter 
IV 1, 
except that the court may 
not 
impose 
the 
condition set out in Title l7-A, section 1204, subsection I-A. 
The court may impose as a condition of probation that a juvenile 
must reside outside the juvenile's home in a setting satisfactory 
to 
the 
juvenile 
community 
corrections officer if the 
court 
determines that reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or 
eliminate 
the 
need 
for 
removal 
of 
the 
juvenile 
from 
the 
juvenile's home 
or that 
no 
reasonable efforts are necessary 
because of the existence of an aggravating factor as defined in 
Title 22, section 4002, subsection l-B, and that continuation in 
the juvenile's home would be contrary to the welfare of the 
juvenile. 
Imposition of such a condition does not affect the 
legal custody of the juvenile. 
Subject to the provisions of 
subsections 7 and 8, the court may as a condition of probation 
reguire the 
juvenile to attend 
a 
residential special-purpose 
private school or similar private facility approved by either the 
Department of Education or the Department of Human Services and 
to comply with the rules of such facility. 
Modification of probation is governed by the procedures contained 
in Title 
l7-A, 
section 
1202, 
subsection 
2. 
Termination of 
probation is governed by the procedures contained in Title l7-A, 
section 1202, subsection 3. 
Revocation of probation is governed 
by the procedures contained in Title l7-A, sections 1205, l205-B, 
l205-C and 1206, except that the provisions of those sections 
requiring a preliminary hearing do not apply and those provisions 
of Title l7-A, section 1206, subsection 7-A allowing a vacating 
of 
part 
of 
the 
suspension 
of 
execution 
apply 
only 
to 
a 
disposition under subsection 1, paragraph G or H; 
however, 
a 
disposition under subsection 1, paragraph F may be modified to a 
disposition under subsection 1, paragraph H. 
If the juvenile is 
being detained for an alleged violation of probation, the court 
shall review within 48 hours following the detention, excluding 
Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, the decision to detain the 
juvenile. 
Following that review, 
the court shall order the 
juvenile's release unless the court finds that there is probable 
cause to believe that the juvenile has violated a condition of 
probation and finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that 
continued detention is necessary to meet one of the purposes of 
detention under section 3203-A, subsection 4, paragraph C. 
Page l-LR0336(l) 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1997, c. 752, 
§23, is further amended to read: 
5. 
Support orders. 
Whenever the court commits a juvenile 
to 
the 
Department 
of 
Human 
Services, 
to 
a 
Department 
of 
Corrections 
juvenile 
correctional facility, 
to 
a 
residential 
special-purpose private school or a similar private facility or 
to a relative or other person, the court may order either or both 
parents of the juvenile to pay a reasonable amount of support for 
the juvenile. 
The order is enforceable under Title 19-A, section 
2603. 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§§7 and 8 are enacted to read: 
7. 
Consideration for placement. 
In deciding whether to 
suspend any dispositional alternative provided in subsection 1 
and to require as a 
condition of probation that the juvenile 
attend a residential special-purpose private school or similar 
private facility in accordance with subsection 2, the court shall 
take the following considerations into account: 
A. 
Whether 
the 
placement 
is 
likely 
to 
provide 
more 
effective 
rehabilitation 
than 
the 
disposition 
to 
be 
suspended; 
B. 
Whether the placement will provide such rehabilitation 
at 
a 
cost 
less 
than 
the 
average 
per-juvenile 
cost 
of 
committing the juvenile to a state-run facility; 
C. 
Whether the residential special-purpose private school, 
or similar private facility has an established record for 
effectively 
assisting 
juveniles 
with 
behavioral 
or 
psychological problems similar to those the court finds the 
juvenile in fact has; 
D. 
The best interest of the juvenile and the juvenile's 
family; and 
E. 
The best interest of soci~ 
8. 
Funding. 
Subject to full or partial reimbursement in 
accordance with subsection 5, the State shall pay the reasonable 
and customaiy charges of any residential special-purpose private 
school or similar private facility that a juvenile is required to 
attend as a condition of probation established in accordance with 
subsection 2. 
If the charges of the residential special-purpose 
private school or similar private facility have been approved by 
the 
Department 
of 
Human 
Services 
or 
by 
the 
Department 
of 
Education, those charges are deemed reasonable and appropriate. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows a court, as a condition of probation, to 
require 
a 
juvenile 
to 
attend 
a 
residential 
special-purpose 
private school or similar private facility approved by either the 
Department of Education or the Department of Human Services.