An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1040
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: PLUMMER, GERZOFSKY, HARVELL, LONG, MORISSETTE, SANDERSON, SHAW, DIAMOND, TRAHAN
Amends: 15 MRSA §1004, 15 MRSA §3206, 15 MRSA §3305, 15 MRSA §3310

Legislative Document 
No. 1040 
H.P. 774 
House of Representatives, March 10, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative PLUMMER of Windham. 
Cosponsored by Senator GERZOFSKY of Cumberland and 
Representatives: HARVELL of Farmington, LONG of Sherman, MORISSETTE of Winslow, 
SANDERSON of Chelsea, SHAW of Standish, Senators: DIAMOND of Cumberland, 
TRAHAN of Lincoln. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §1004, as amended by PL 2007, c. 552, §1, is further amended 
to read: 
§1004.  Applicability and exclusions 
This chapter applies to the setting of bail for a defendant in a criminal proceeding, 
including the setting of bail for an alleged contemnor in a plenary contempt proceeding 
involving a punitive sanction under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66.  It does 
not apply to the setting of bail in extradition proceedings under sections 201 to 229, post-
conviction review proceedings under sections 2121 to 2132, probation revocation 
proceedings under Title 17-A, sections 1205 to 1207, supervised release revocation 
proceedings under Title 17-A, section 1233 or administrative release revocation 
proceedings under Title 17-A, sections 1349 to 1349-F, except to the extent and under the 
conditions stated in those sections.  This chapter applies to the setting of bail for an 
alleged contemnor in a summary contempt proceeding involving a punitive sanction 
under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66 and to the setting of bail relative to a 
material witness only as specified in sections 1103 and 1104, respectively.  This chapter 
does not apply to a person arrested for a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 or a 
person under 18 years of age who is arrested for a crime defined under Title 12 or Title 
29-A that is not a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103. 
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §3206, as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §8, is further amended 
to read: 
§3206.  Detention of juveniles 
A person arrested for a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 or a person under 18 
years of age who is arrested for a crime defined under Title 12 or Title 29-A that is not a 
juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 is not subject to chapter 105-A and may not be 
detained unless a juvenile community corrections officer has been notified within 2 hours 
after the person's arrest and has approved the detention.  Section 3203-A, subsection 7, 
paragraphs A and B governing the facilities in which juveniles may be detained apply to 
any detention of such a juvenile following arrest. 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §3305, first ¶, as amended by PL 1989, c. 741, §14, is further 
amended to read: 
An answer to a petition need not be entered by a juvenile or by the juvenile's parents, 
guardian or legal custodian.  A juvenile may enter an answer admitting the allegations of 
the petition, in accordance with Rules 11 and 11A, Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, 
except that, if the case has been continued for investigation and for a bind-over hearing 
pursuant to section 3101, subsection 4, paragraph A, the court may not accept an answer 
to the petition until the court has conducted a bind-over hearing and has decided to retain 
jurisdiction of the juvenile in the Juvenile Court or until the prosecuting attorney has 
withdrawn the request to have the juvenile tried as an adult. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §3310, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7.  Default judgment on certain juvenile crimes.  If a juvenile fails to appear in 
response to a juvenile summons served pursuant to section 3304 for a juvenile crime 
described in section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B or C, the judge shall enter the 
juvenile's default, adjudicate that the juvenile has committed the juvenile crime alleged 
and impose a fine pursuant to section 3314, subsection 1, paragraph G.  For good cause 
shown, the court may set aside the default and adjudication. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the following changes. 
1.  It specifies that persons arrested for juvenile crimes, as well as persons under 18 
years of age who are arrested for crimes outside of the Maine Juvenile Code, are not 
eligible for bail. 
2.  It provides that no answer may be entered on a juvenile petition when the State 
filed a request to have the juvenile tried as an adult or has requested the case be continued 
for a determination of whether such a request should be filed. 
3.  It allows the Juvenile Court to enter a default judgment when a juvenile fails to 
respond to a summons alleging a juvenile crime that would be a civil violation if 
committed by an adult.