An Act To Increase the Amount of Funds Available to Counties for Witness Fees and Prosecution Costs
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1201
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: WILLETTE, MASON, THERIAULT, SHERMAN
Amends: 14 MRSA §3144, 15 MRSA §224, 15 MRSA §224-A, 15 MRSA §1319, 15 MRSA §1320

Legislative Document 
No. 1201 
H.P. 892 
House of Representatives, March 21, 2011 
An Act To Increase the Amount of Funds Available to Counties for 
Witness Fees and Prosecution Costs 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative WILLETTE of Mapleton. 
Cosponsored by Senator MASON of Androscoggin and 
Representative: THERIAULT of Madawaska, Senator: SHERMAN of Aroostook. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §3144, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 414, §2, is amended to read: 
§3144.  Criminal failure to appear; cost of extradition 
It is the intent of the Legislature that, when appropriate, the respective district 
attorney shall utilize Title 17-A, section 17, subsection 4, and prosecute defendants who 
fail to appear.  Any costs of extradition of a defendant who has been charged with the 
offense of failure to appear shall must be assessed against the defendant and shall be 
reimbursed to the extradition and prosecution expenses account in the appropriate 
prosecutorial district. 
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §224, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1983, c. 843, §9, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Expenses paid from funds allotted to prosecuting attorney. When a fugitive 
from justice is returned to the State of Maine for prosecution, expenses incurred which 
that are necessary and proper for the return shall must be paid out of the funds allotted for 
that purpose to the district attorney or from the Extradition and Prosecution Expenses 
Account established by section 224-A. In those cases prosecuted by the Attorney General, 
the expenses for extradition shall must be paid by the district attorney in whose county 
the crime is alleged to have been committed. District attorneys may agree to share 
expenses whenever a fugitive from justice is charged in the State with more than one 
offense. 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §224-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 31, §1, is further amended 
to read: 
§224-A.  Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account 
1.  Establishment; use. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there is 
established an Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account in each prosecutorial 
district in an amount not to exceed $20,000 $40,000, to be administered by the district 
attorney and to be used solely for the purpose purposes of paying the expenses of 
extraditing persons charged with or convicted of a crime in this State and who are 
fugitives from justice, as defined in section 201, subsection 4, paying fees or expenses of 
prosecution pursuant to section 1319 or paying witness fees pursuant to section 1320. 
2.  Funding. The Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account in each 
prosecutorial district is funded by bail forfeited to and recovered by the State pursuant to 
the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 46. Whenever bail is so forfeited and 
recovered by the State and if it is not payable as restitution pursuant to Title 17-A, section 
1329, subsection 3-A, the district attorney shall determine whether it or a portion of it is 
deposited in the Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account for that district attorney's 
prosecutorial district, but in no event may the account exceed $20,000 $40,000. Any bail 
so forfeited and recovered and not deposited in the Extradition and Prosecution Expenses 
Account must be deposited in the General Fund. Any unexpended balance in the 
Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account of a prosecutorial district established by 
this section may not lapse but must be carried forward into the next year. 
3.  Review by district attorney.  The district attorney shall review monthly the 
Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account and the expenses of that prosecutorial 
district in connection with the extradition of fugitives from justice, prosecution and 
witnesses and shall determine whether any funds in the account must be transferred to the 
General Fund. 
4.  Audit. Every district attorney shall have an annual audit made  by the Department 
of Audit or by a certified public accountant selected by the district attorney of the 
Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account for his that district attorney's prosecutorial 
district, covering the last complete fiscal year.  
If the auditor finds in the course of his the audit evidence of improper transactions, 
incompetency in keeping accounts or handling funds, failure to comply with this section 
or any other improper practice of financial administration, he the auditor shall report the 
same that finding to the Attorney General immediately. 
5.  Advances and accounting for extradition. The district attorney shall advance 
funds from the Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account to the agents designated by 
him the district attorney to return a fugitive from justice to this State. A full accounting of 
all expenses and the return of all unused funds shall must be made by the agents no later 
than 3 business days from the date of return. All funds returned shall must be credited to 
the Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account from which they were paid. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §1319, as enacted by PL 1975, c. 775, §1, is amended to read: 
§1319.  Authorization of payments by a prosecuting attorney 
For purposes of this chapter, where when a prosecuting attorney is permitted to 
authorize payment of fees or expenses incurred on behalf of the State in a criminal 
prosecution, payment of those fees and expenses shall must be made by the proper 
authorities to the persons, municipalities or agencies to whom the payment is authorized 
upon certification to those authorities by the prosecuting attorney or his the prosecuting 
attorney's designee that the payment is reasonable and necessary to the prosecution of a 
given criminal case.  Payment may be made from the Extradition and Prosecution 
Expenses Account established in section 224-A. 
Sec. 5.  15 MRSA §1320, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1977, c. 63, is repealed and 
the following enacted in its place: 
1.  Payments.  Payments made under this section must be made first from the 
Extradition and Prosecution Expenses Account established in section 224-A and, if there 
are insufficient funds in that account, next from the county treasury upon authorization of 
the prosecuting attorney, unless otherwise expressly directed by law.  Payments from the 
county treasury must be made from the sums set aside in the county budget for the 
payments on account of Superior Court criminal proceedings. 
SUMMARY 
Current law requires forfeited bail to be paid into an account maintained by each 
prosecutorial district for the purpose of paying expenses related to extradition of fugitives 
from justice.  The maximum amount that may be retained in that account is $20,000. 
This bill increases the amount that may be retained in that account to $40,000 and 
expands the uses of the funds in the account to allow it to be used to pay for fees or 
expenses, including witness fees, incurred by the district attorney in a criminal 
prosecution.