An Act To Amend the Laws Relating to Juveniles
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0521
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: HANLEY, McCORMICK, BERRY, GREELEY, HASKELL, HILL, PLUMMER, SYKES
Amends: 15 MRSA §3103, 15 MRSA §3203-A, 15 MRSA §3301, 15 MRSA §3314, 15 MRSA §3316, 17-A MRSA §303

Legislative Document 
No. 521 
H.P.399 
House of Representatives, February 2,2007 
An Act To Amend the Laws Relating to Juveniles 
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. 
Presented by Representative HANLEY of Gardiner. 
Cosponsored by Senator McCORMICK of Kennebec and 
17/~ 
/J?1i/tJ£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, GREELEY of Levant, HASKELL of Portland, 
HILL of York, PLUMMER of Windham, SYKES of Harrison. 
Printed on recyc.:led paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3103, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1997, c. 752, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
2. Dispositional powers. All of the dispositional powers of the Juvenile Court 
provided in section 3314 apply to a juvenile who is adjudicated to have committed a 
juvenile crime, except that no commitment to a Department of Corrections juvenile 
correctional facility or other aeteatioB period of confinement may be imposed for conduct 
described in subsection 1, paragraphs Band C. 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§7-B is enacted to read: 
7-B. Separate nonsecure custody; detention. When a juvenile who is being held in 
nonsecure custody or is being detained pursuant to this section is transported to or from 
court or to or from a juvenile facility or is being held in a court holding area awaiting 
court proceedings, the juvenile must be separated by sight and sound from any adult 
detainee. 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3301, sub-§5-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 624, Pt. B, §10, 
is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 15 MRS A §3312, sub-§3, ~, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 624, Pt. B, §20, 
is further amended to read: 
D. 
If the court finds, after opportunity for hearing, that a juvenile released with a 
condition of participation in a juvenile drug treatment court program has intentionally 
or knowingly violated that condition, the court may impose a sanction of up to 7 days' 
aeteBtioB confinement in a aeteBtioB facility approved or operated by the Department 
of Corrections exclusively for juveniles. Nothing in this paragraph restricts the 
ability of the court to impose sanctions other than aeteBtioB confinement for the 
violation of a condition of participation in a juvenile drug treatment court program or 
the ability of the court to enter any dispositional order allowed under section 3314 on 
final disposition. 
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§I, ~H, as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §12, is 
further amended to read: 
H. 
The court may eommit the jU'IeBile to a D~artmeBt of CorreetioBS juveBile 
eorreetioBaI faeility aBa oreer that the eispositioB be suspeBeea or may order the 
juvenile to serve a period of confinement that may not exceed 30 days, with or 
without an underlying suspended disposition of commitment to a Department of 
Corrections juvenile correctional facility, which confinement must be served 
concurrently with any other period of confinement previously imposed and not fully 
discharged or imposed on the same date but may be served intermittently as the court 
may order and must be ordered served in a facility approved or operated by the 
Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles. The court may order such a 
disposition to be served as a part of and with a period of probation that is subject to 
such provisions of Title 17 -A, section 1204 as the court may order and that must be 
Page I - 123LR0640(Ol)-1 
administered pursuant to Title 34-A, chapter 5, subchapter 4. 
Revocation of 
probation is governed by the procedure contained in subsection 2. Any disposition 
under this paragraph is subject to Title 17-A, section 1253, subsection 2 except that a 
statement is not required to be furnished and the day-for-day deduction must be 
determined by the facility, but not to Title 17-A, section 1253, subsection 2, 
paragraph A, or subsection 3-B, 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10. For purposes of calculating the 
commencement of the period of confinement, credit is accorded only for the portion 
of the first day for which the juvenile is actually confined; the juvenile may not be 
released until the juvenile has served the full term of hours or days imposed by the 
court. Wheneyer When a juvenile is committed for a period of confinement, the 
court shall determine whether reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or 
eliminate the need for removal of the juvenile from the juvenile'S home or that 
reasonable efforts are not necessary because of the existence of an aggravating factor 
as defined in Title 22, section 4002, subsection I-B and whether continuation in the 
juvenile'S home would be contrary to the welfare of the juvenile. This determination 
does not affect whether the court orders a period of confinement. 
Sec. 6. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2003, c. 503, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
2. 
Suspended disposition. 
The court may impose any of the dispositional 
alternatives provided in subsection 1 and may suspend its disposition and place the 
juvenile on a specified period of probation that is subject to such provisions of Title 17-A, 
section 1204 as the court may order and that is administered pursuant to the provisions of 
Title 34-A, chapter 5, subchapter 4, except that the court may not impose the condition 
set out in Title 17-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 1-
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. 
Modification of probation is governed by the procedures contained in Title 17-A, section 
1202, subsection 2. Termination of probation is governed by the procedures contained in 
Title 17-A, section 1202, subsection 3. Revocation of probation is governed by the 
procedures contained in Title 17-A, sections 1205, l205-B, 1205-C and 1206, except that 
the provisions of those seotions requiring a preliminal)' hearing do not apply this 
subsection governs the court's determinations concerning probable cause and continued 
detention and those provisions of Title 17-A, section 1206, subsection 7-A allowing a 
vacating of part of the suspension of execution apply only to a disposition suspended fine 
under subsection 1, paragraph G or a suspended period of confinement under paragraph 
H; however, a disposition suspended commitment under subsection 1, paragraph F may 
be modified to a disposition under subsection 1, paragraph H. 
Wheneyer When a 
revocation of probation results in the imposition of a disposition under subsection 1, 
paragraph F or a period of detention confinement under subsection 1, paragraph H, the 
court shall determine whether 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 I-B and whether continuation in the juvenile's home would be 
contrary to the welfare of the juvenile. This determination does not affect whether the 
court orders a particular disposition upon a revocation of probation. 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 fmds 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. Wheaever When a court orders continued detention, 
the court shall determine whether 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 I-B and whether continuation in the 
juvenile'S home would be contrary to the welfare of the juvenile. This determination does 
not affect whether the court orders continued detention. 
Sec. 7. 15 MRSA §3316, sub-§2, ~A, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 
127, Pt. B, §6, is amended to read: 
A. 
A commitment of a juvenile to a Department of Corrections juvenile corrections 
facility pursuant to section 3314 must be for an indeterminate period not to extend 
beyond the juvenile'S 18th birthday unless the court expressly further limits or 
extends the indeterminate commitment, as long as the court does not limit the 
commitment to less than one year nor extend the commitment beyond a juvenile'S 
st birthday and as long as an order does not result in a commitment of less than one 
year, unless the commitment is for an indeterminate period not to extend beyond the 
juvenile's 21 st birthday. When the vacating of the suspension of execution of a 
disposition of commitment to a Department of Corrections juvenile corrections 
facility as the result of a probation revocation results in a commitment of less than 
one year after the revocation, the court shall extend the period of commitment to a 
year or more unless doing so extends the commitment beyond the juvenile's 21 st 
birthday. Nothing in this Part may be construed to prohibit the provision to a juvenile 
following the expiration of the juvenile'S term of commitment of services voluntarily 
accepted by the juvenile and the juvenile's parents, guardian or legal custodian if the 
juvenile is not emancipated~~ except that these services may not be extended beyond 
the juvenile's 21 st birthday. 
Sec. 8. 17-A MRSA §303, sub-§I-A is enacted to read: 
I-A. A person is guilty of criminal restraint by parent if the person, being the parent 
of a child under 18 years of age and knowing the person has no legal right to do so, takes, 
retains or entices the child from the custody of the Department of Corrections or the 
Department of Health and Human Services with the intent to remove the child from the 
State or to secrete the child and hold the child in a place where the child is not likely to be 
found. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the laws relating to juveniles as follows. 
It provides that when a juvenile detainee or juvenile held in nonsecure custody is 
being transported or is held in a court holding area, there must be the same sight and 
sound separation from adults as when the juvenile is in a county jail. 
It repeals the provision establishing community resolution teams as a means of 
informal adjustment of juvenile offenses. 
It addresses the issue of a juvenile who receives a suspended order of commitment to 
a juvenile facility and commits a probation violation shortly before the end of the 
commitment period by requiring that a court revoking probation ensure that the juvenile 
receives a commitment of at least one year. 
It expands the crime of criminal restraint by parent to cover a parent who removes a 
child under 18 years of age from state custody. 
It substitutes "confinement" for "detention" ill several proVISIons that were 
inadvertently overlooked in legislation passed in the last legislative session, which 
clarified that the term "detention" should be used only when a juvenile is being held 
pending court proceedings. 
It clarifies the provisions referring to the disposition of up to 30 days' confinement in 
a juvenile facility. 
It fixes the cross-references to adult probation revocation provisions in light of the 
changes made to those provisions in the last legislative session.