An Act To Improve Juvenile Correctional Services.
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0793
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: PLUMMER, BURNS, LAJOIE, DAVIS, GERZOFSKY
Amends: 15 MRSA §712, 15 MRSA §3103, 15 MRSA §3203-A

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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124th MAINE LEGISLATU 
. Legislative Document 
No. 793 
H.P.542 
House of Representatives, March 2, 2009 
An Act To Improve Juvenile Correctional Services. 
Submitted by the Department of Corrections pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
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Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
.Presented by Representative PLUMMER of Windham. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: BURNS of Whiting, LAJOIE of Lewiston, Senators: DAVIS 
of Cumberland, GERZOFSKY of Cumberland. 
Pdnted on rc:cyc:1ed paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. I. 15 MRSA §712, sub-§2, ~A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 361, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
A. 
Either the sender or receiver of that communication is a person residing in an 
adult .or juvenile correctional facility administered by the Department of Corrections; 
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and 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3103, sub-§I, tjfD, as amended by PL 1995, c. 470, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
D. 
If a juvenile is adjudicated to have committed an action described in paragraph 
lOB or C willful refusal to pay a resulting fine or willful violation of the terms of a . 
resulting probation or willful failure to comply with the terms of any other resulting 
court order; 
Sec. 3. 15.MRSA §3203-A, sub-§7, ~A, as amended by P.l, 2005, c. 507, §5, is 
further amended to read: 
A. 
A juvenile may be detained in a jailor other secure detention facility intended 
for use or primarily used for the detention of adults only when the serving facility: 
(1) Contains an area where juveniles are under direct staff observation at all 
times, in a separate section for juveniles that complies with mandatory sight and 
sound separation standards established by the Department of Corrections 
pursuant to Title 34-A, section 1208; 
(2) Provides for no regular contact between the juveniles with the adult detainees 
or inmates; and 
(3) 
Has an adequate staff to provide direct observation and supervise the 
juvenile's activities at all times during emergency detention. 
Juveniles detained in adult-serving facilities may be placed only in the separate 
juvenile sections that comply with mandatory separation standards established by the 
Department of Corrections pursua;:t to Title 34-A, section 1208, unless the detainee 
must be detained with adults as a result of having attained 21 years of age or unless 
the court orders that the peFSBfl. detainee be detained with adults for any period of 
detention occurring after the detainee has attained 18 years of age or unless the 
juvenile is bound over as an adult and held in an adult section of a facility pursuant to 
32. 
court order or. unless the detainee has been convicted as an adult in another 
jurisdiction. 
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§7, ~-4, as amended by PL 1999, c. 624, Pt. 
A, §4, is further amended to read: 
B-4. 
The State is responsible for all physically restrictive juvenile detention 
statewide, except that the detention for up to 6 hours provided under subsection 1 
remains the responsibility of the counties. At the discretion of the sheriff, if the 
requirements of paragraph B-5 are met, a county may assume responsibility for the 
detention of a juvenile' for up to ;M 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal 
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holidays. 
Upon mutual agreement -of the Com'missioner of Corrections and the 
sheriff and upon telms mutually agreeable to them, a juvenile may be detained by a 
county for a longer period of time in an approved detention facility or, temporary 
holding resource complying with paragraph B. Any detention of a juvenile by a 
county must be in a section of a jailor other secure detention facility in compliance 
with paragraph A or in an approved detention facility or temporary holding resource 
in compliance with paragraph B. This paragraph does not apply to ajuvenile who is 
held in an adult section of a jail pursuant to court order .under paragraph C or D; 
section 3101, subsection 4, paragraph £, .. 1; or section 3205, subsection 2. 
SUMMARY 
This bill permits the interception of phone calls made by or to residents of juvenile 
correctional' facilities on the same basis as the interception of phone calls made by or to 
residents of adult correctional facilities. It also makes wiilful faiiure to comply with the 
'temlS of any court order resulting from a juvenile adjudication of a juvenile crime 
involving drugs or liquor itself a juvenile crime consistent with other provisions that 
define a juvenile crime. The bill requires that a detainee under 18 years of age who has 
been convicted as an adult 'in another jurisdiction be detained with adults, as is presently 
the case for detainees under 18 years of age who have been convicted as an adult in the 
State. The bill also makes the provisions for the detention of juveniles in ,a j ail consistent 
by 'allowing such detention to be for up to 48 hours.