An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code and Related Statutes
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1112
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Amends: 15 MRSA §101-C, 15 MRSA §3003, 15 MRSA §3103-A, 15 MRSA §3305, 15 MRSA §3315, 15 MRSA §3402

Legislative Document 
No. 1112 
H.P. 782 
House of Representatives, March 19, 2013 
An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code and Related Statutes 
Reported by Representative DION of Portland for the Criminal Law Advisory Commission 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1354, subsection 2. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §101-C, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 268, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Written demand for records.  When a person or entity has been ordered to 
perform an examination or evaluation pursuant to section 101-D, a diagnostic evaluation 
pursuant to section 3309-A, a competency examination pursuant to 3318-A, an evaluation 
and treatment pursuant to section 3318-B, or an examination of a juvenile with reference 
to insanity or abnormal condition of mind, and the person to be examined has sought the 
examination, joined in a request or order for the examination or has entered a plea or 
answer of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity, that person or entity may 
make written demand upon any individual, partnership, association, corporation, 
institution or governmental entity to produce the records or copies of the records, in 
whatever medium preserved, of the subject of the examination or evaluation. 
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is amended 
to read: 
1.  Adjudicatory hearing. "Adjudicatory hearing" means a hearing to determine 
whether the allegations of a petition under chapter 507 are supported by evidence beyond 
a reasonable doubt that satisfies the standard of proof required. 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§17, as amended by PL 1989, c. 113, §1, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 5.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§19-A is enacted to read: 
19-A.  Mental disease or defect.  "Mental disease or defect" has the same meaning 
as in Title 17-A, section 39, subsection 2 except that "mental disease or defect" does not 
include, in and of itself, the fact that a juvenile has not attained the level of mental or 
emotional development normally associated with persons 18 years of age or older. 
Sec. 6.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§20, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 7.  15 MRSA §3003, sub-§22, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 8.  15 MRSA §3103-A is enacted to read: 
§3103-A.  Provisions of Title 17-A, Part 1 made applicable 
The following provisions of Title 17-A, Part 1 are applicable to juvenile crimes: 
1.  Chapter 1.  Chapter 1, except section 1; section 2, subsections 3-C and 5-B; and 
sections 6, 8, 9 and 17; 
2.  Chapter 2.  Chapter 2, except section 40; 
3.  Chapter 3.  Chapter 3, except section 60; and 
4.  Chapter 5.  Chapter 5. 
Sec. 9.  15 MRSA §3305, as amended by PL 2011, c. 336, §3, is further amended 
to read: 
§3305.  Answer 
An answer to a petition need not be entered by a juvenile or by the juvenile's parents, 
guardian or legal custodian.  A juvenile or the juvenile's counsel may enter an answer 
asserting the absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity or denying, 
admitting or not contesting 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 other than a denial or 
assertion of the absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity 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.  An answer may be both a denial and an assertion of the 
absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity.  If the juvenile or the juvenile's 
counsel declines to enter an answer, the court shall enter an answer of denial. 
Upon the acceptance of such an answer If the court accepts an answer admitting or 
not contesting the allegations of the petition, a dispositional hearing shall must be set at 
the earliest practicable time that will allow for the completion of a predisposition study 
conducted pursuant to section 3311 and for service of notice as required by section 3314, 
subsection 1, paragraph C-1 or C-2.  If the answer entered is a denial or an assertion of 
the absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity, or both, or if the court 
declines to accept an answer admitting or not contesting the allegations of the petition, an 
adjudicatory hearing must be set. 
Sec. 10.  15 MRSA §3315, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 696, §6 and PL 
2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
1.  Right to review.  Every disposition pursuant to section 3314 and 3318-B, other 
than unconditional discharge, must be reviewed not less than once in every 12 months 
until the juvenile is discharged. The review must be made by a representative of the 
Department of Corrections unless the juvenile was has been committed to the Department 
custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, in which case such review 
must be made by a representative of the Department of Health and Human Services. A 
report of the review must be made in writing to the juvenile's parents, guardian or legal 
custodian. A copy of the report must be forwarded to the program or programs that were 
reviewed, and the department whose personnel made the review shall retain a copy of the 
report in their files. The written report must be prepared in accordance with subsection 2.  
When a juvenile is placed in the custody of the Department Commissioner of Health and 
Human Services, reviews and permanency planning hearings must be conducted in 
accordance with Title 22, section 4038.  Title 22, sections 4005, 4039 and 4041 also 
apply. 
Sec. 11.  15 MRSA §3402, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1991, c. 202, is further 
amended to read: 
5.  Time for appeals.  An appeal from the juvenile court to the Superior Court must 
be taken within 5 7 days of after the entry of an order of disposition or other appealed 
order or such further time as the Supreme Judicial Court may provide pursuant to a rule 
of court. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the following changes to the Juvenile Code. 
1.  It provides that a person or entity performing a court-ordered mental health 
examination or evaluation of a juvenile may make a written demand for that juvenile's 
records or copies of those records held by another individual or entity. 
2.  It corrects an oversight to clarify that the juvenile crimes involving a useable 
amount of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, illegal transportation and certain types of 
intoxicating liquor need only be supported by a preponderance of the evidence rather than 
by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt as required for other juvenile crimes. 
3.  It adds a definition of "mental disease or defect" to the Maine Juvenile Code that 
is the same as the definition in the Maine Criminal Code for purposes of establishing lack 
of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity except it excludes the fact that a juvenile 
has not attained the level of mental or emotional development normally associated with 
an adult individual. 
4.  It removes duplicative or obsolete definitions for "he," "law enforcement officer," 
"organization" and "person." 
5.  It clarifies that the general principles contained in the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 17-A, Part 1, except specific provisions that are inconsistent with or inapplicable to 
the Maine Juvenile Code, are applicable to juvenile crimes. 
6.  It requires that a juvenile respond by way of an answer to a petition of allegation 
of a juvenile crime.  A juvenile response may be through counsel. 
7.  It provides that, in addition to admitting the allegations of a petition, a juvenile or 
a juvenile's counsel may answer a petition by denying allegations, by asserting the 
absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity or by not contesting the 
allegations. 
8.  It allows a juvenile or a juvenile's counsel to answer by a denial and by an 
assertion of the absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity. 
9.  It allows a court to accept a denial or an assertion of the absence of criminal 
responsibility by reason of insanity, or both, when the case has been continued for 
investigation and for a bind-over hearing. 
10.  It provides that a court must enter an answer of denial if a juvenile or a juvenile's 
counsel declines to enter an answer. 
11.  It provides that a dispositional hearing will be set for a juvenile if the court 
accepts an answer admitting or not contesting the allegations of the petition. 
12.  It provides that if the answer entered by a juvenile is a denial or an assertion of 
the absence of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity, or both, or if the court 
declines to accept an answer admitting or not contesting the allegations of the petition, an 
adjudicatory hearing must be set. 
13.  It provides for a right to periodic review of a disposition of a juvenile found 
incompetent to proceed.  It also clarifies that the commitment of a juvenile to the 
Department of Health and Human Services is a commitment to the custody of the 
Commissioner of Health and Human Services. 
14.  It changes the period of time within which a juvenile may take an appeal from 
the juvenile court to the Superior Court from 5 to 7 days after the entry of an order of 
disposition.   This is the same appeal period as is provided for a petition contesting 
extradition.