An Act To Clarify the Court's Authority To Grant Credit Given for Jail Time toward Payment of Fines
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1598
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: HASKELL
Amends: 17-A MRSA §1304

Legislative Document 
No. 1598 
H.P. 1204 
House of Representatives, December 13, 2011 
An Act To Clarify the Court's Authority To Grant Credit Given for 
Jail Time toward Payment of Fines 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 9, 2011.  Referred to the Committee on 
Criminal Justice and Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative HASKELL of Portland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  17-A MRSA §1304, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 334, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
A.  Unless the offender shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the default 
was not attributable to an intentional or knowing refusal to obey the court's order or 
to a failure on the offender's part to make a good faith effort to obtain the funds 
required for the payment, the court shall find that the default was unexcused and may: 
(1)  Commit the offender to the custody of the sheriff until all or a specified part 
of the fine is paid.  The length of confinement in a county jail for unexcused 
default must be specified in the court's order and may not exceed one day for 
every $100 of unpaid fine or 6 months, whichever is shorter, but may not exceed 
months.  An offender committed for nonpayment of a fine is given credit 
toward the payment of the fine for each day of confinement that the offender is in 
custody, at the rate specified in the court's order that is up to $100 of unpaid fine 
per day of confinement.  The offender is also given credit for each day that the 
offender is detained as the result of an arrest warrant issued pursuant to this 
section. An offender is responsible for paying any fine remaining after receiving 
credit for confinement and detention.  A default on the remaining fine is also 
governed by this section; or 
(2)  If the unexcused default relates to a fine imposed for a Class D or Class E 
crime, as authorized by chapter 53, order the offender to perform community 
service work, as authorized in chapter 54-C, until all or a specified part of the 
fine is paid.  The number of hours of community service work must be specified 
in the court's order and may not exceed 8 hours for every $25 of unpaid fine or 
one hundred 8-hour days, whichever is shorter.  An offender ordered to perform 
community service work pursuant to this subparagraph is given credit toward the 
payment of the fine for each 8-hour day of community service work performed at 
the rate specified in the court's order.  The offender is also given credit toward the 
payment of the fine for each day that the offender is detained as a result of an 
arrest warrant issued pursuant to this section at a rate specified in the court's order 
that is up to $100 of unpaid fine per day of confinement.  An offender is 
responsible for paying any fine remaining after receiving credit for any detention 
and for community service work performed.  A default on the remaining fine is 
also governed by this section. 
SUMMARY 
Current law allows a judge to incarcerate a person who fails to pay a fine and 
provides a credit in an amount specified by the judge towards the payment of the unpaid 
fine; the length of confinement may not exceed one day for every $100 of unpaid fines.  
If a person who owes a fine for a Class D or E crime is detained, however, that person 
must be given credit at a rate specified by the court, up to a maximum of $100 per day the 
person is detained. 
This bill removes that difference by specifying that a person incarcerated for failing 
to pay a fine must be given credit towards the payment of that fine in an amount up to 
$100 per day for each day the person is incarcerated, the same as for a person 
incarcerated for failing to pay a fine imposed for a Class D or E crime.