An Act To Restore Judicial Discretion in the Administration of Fines
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0951
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: DION, BRAKEY, BECK, FREY, KRUGER, DUTREMBLE
Amends: 9-A MRSA §5, 14 MRSA §3141, 15 MRSA §651, 17-A MRSA §1206, 17-A MRSA §1301, 17-A MRSA §1303, 17-A MRSA §1303-B, 17-A MRSA §1304, 30-A MRSA §1606

Legislative Document 
No. 951 
H.P. 654 
House of Representatives, March 17, 2015 
An Act To Restore Judicial Discretion in the Administration of 
Fines 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DION of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin and 
Representatives: BECK of Waterville, FREY of Bangor, KRUGER of Thomaston, Senator: 
DUTREMBLE of York. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  9-A MRSA §5-105, sub-§2, ¶A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 
7, §1, is amended to read: 
A.    Twenty-five Ten percent of the individual's disposable earnings for that week; 
and 
Sec. 2.  14 MRSA §3141, sub-§7, as amended by PL 1999, c. 587, §9, is further 
amended to read: 
7.  Remedies.  Failure Having the ability to pay and willfully failing to pay by the 
date fixed by the court's order or an amended order subjects the defendant to the contempt 
procedures provided in section 3142, suspensions under Title 29-A, section 2605, and all 
procedures for collections provided for in sections 3127-A, 3127-B, 3131, 3132, 3134, 
3135 and 3136.  An installment agreement under this section must be considered an 
agreement under section 3125, and a court order to pay under section 3126-A.  In 
addition to other penalties provided by law, the court may impose on the defendant 
reasonable costs for any failure to appear. 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §651, sub-§4, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 214, §2 and 
affected by §6, is repealed. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §651, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 214, §2 and affected 
by §6, is repealed. 
Sec. 5.  17-A MRSA §1206, sub-§6-A is enacted to read: 
6-A.  When the alleged violation is failure to pay a fine, the court may revoke 
probation if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person on probation has 
the ability to pay the monetary amount as directed by the court and intentionally fails to 
pay. In determining ability to pay, the court shall take into account the present and future 
financial capacity of the person on probation to pay the fine and the nature of the 
financial burden that payment of the fine will impose on the person on probation or a 
dependent of the person on probation, if any. 
Sec. 6.  17-A MRSA §1301, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2011, c. 464, §22, is 
further amended to read: 
6.   In addition to any other authorized sentencing alternative, the court shall may 
impose a minimum fine of $400, none of which may be suspended, for a person 
convicted of a crime under section 1103; 1104; 1105-A; 1105-B; 1105-C; 1105-D; 1106; 
1107-A; 1108; 1109; 1110; 1111; 1111-A, subsection 4-A; 1116; 1117; or 1118. 
Sec. 7.  17-A MRSA §1303, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1975, c. 499, §1, is 
amended to read: 
2.    If a convicted person sentenced to pay a fine is also placed on probation, the 
court may make the payment of the fine a condition of probation. In such cases, the court 
may order that the fine be paid to the probation officer.  Probation may not be revoked for 
failure to pay a fine unless the person on probation has the ability to pay the fine and 
intentionally fails to pay. 
Sec. 8.  17-A MRSA §1303-B, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 367, §4, is amended to 
read: 
§1303-B.  Modification of payment of fine 
A convicted person who has been sentenced to pay a fine shall move the court for a 
modification of time or method of payment to avoid a default.  The court on its own 
motion or pursuant to the convicted person's motion may modify its prior order to reduce 
the fine pursuant to section 1304 or to allow additional time for payment or to reduce the 
amount of each installment. 
Sec. 9.  17-A MRSA §1304, as amended by PL 2013, c. 266, §8, is further 
amended to read: 
§1304.  Default 
1.  An offender who has been sentenced to pay a fine and has defaulted in payment of 
that fine must be returned to court for further disposition issued a court order requiring 
the offender to appear for a court hearing. 
1-A.  For purposes of this section, if an offender is returned to court pursuant to a 
warrant, both the court located where the warrant is issued and the court located where 
the warrant is executed are authorized to conduct the default hearing pursuant to 
subsection 3. 
2.  A probation officer having knowledge of a default in payment of a fine by an 
offender shall report the default to the office of the attorney for the State.  An attorney for 
the State having knowledge of a default in payment of a fine by an offender shall report 
the default to the court.  If the fine was a condition of probation, the attorney for the State 
may file a motion to enforce payment of the fine or, with the written consent of the 
probation officer, a motion to revoke probation under section 1205.  If the fine was not a 
condition of probation, the The attorney for the State may file a motion to enforce 
payment of the fine. 
3.  Either the attorney for the State or the court may initiate a motion to enforce 
payment of a fine.  Notification for the hearing on the motion must be sent by regular 
mail to the offender's last known address.  If the offender does not appear for the hearing 
after proper notification has been sent, the court may issue a bench warrant. A court need 
not bring a motion to enforce payment of a fine nor notify the offender by regular mail of 
the date of the hearing if at the time of sentence imposition the court's order to pay the 
fine and accompanying warnings to the offender comply with Title 14, section 3141, 
subsection 3 or 4 and, if the offender fails to appear as directed by the court's fine order, 
the court may issue a bench warrant. 
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 6 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, which may not be less than $25 or more than $100 
of unpaid fine for each 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 the offender must receive a credit against the unpaid fine 
of no less than $25 for every 8 hours the minimum wage under Title 26, section 
664, subsection 1 for each hour of community service work completed, which 
may not exceed one hundred 8-hour days.  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. 
B.  If it appears that the default is excusable, the court may give the offender 
additional time for payment, may reduce the amount of the fine, may reduce the 
amount of each installment or may permit the offender to perform community service 
work at a rate authorized by paragraph A, subparagraph (2), supervised by the sheriff 
of the county in which the court that assessed the fine is located or by a community 
confinement monitoring agency with which that sheriff has contracted under Title 
30-A, section 1659-A. 
C.  If the court commits a person to the custody of the sheriff for nonpayment of a 
fine pursuant to subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (1), the court may 
authorize, at the time of its order only, participation of the person in a project under 
Title 30-A, section 1606 with the agreement of the sheriff of the county jail where the 
person is committed.  The person must be given credit according to Title 30-A, 
section 1606, subsection 2. 
D.  The confinement ordered under subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (1) must 
be nonconcurrent with any judgment of conviction involving a term of imprisonment. 
4.  Upon any default, execution may be levied and other measures authorized for the 
collection of unpaid civil judgments may be taken to collect the unpaid fine.  A levy of 
execution does not discharge an offender confined to a county jail or performing 
community service work under subsection 3 for unexcused default until the full amount 
of the fine has been collected. 
5.  When a fine is imposed on an organization, the person or persons authorized to 
make disbursements from the assets of the organization shall pay the fine from the 
organization's assets.  Failure to do so may subject the person or persons to court action 
pursuant to this section. 
Sec. 10.  30-A MRSA §1606, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 519, §9, is 
further amended to read: 
2.  Sentence prorated.  Inmates participating in a public works-related project or an 
improvement of property owned by a charitable organization under this section may have 
their sentences to the jail prorated at the rate of up to one day removed from the sentences 
for every 16 hours of participation in the project, except that inmates committed to the 
custody of the sheriff for nonpayment of fines under Title 17-A, section 1304 must have 
their sentences prorated at the rate that is applicable to the individual inmate pursuant to 
Title 17-A, section 1304, subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (1). 
SUMMARY 
This bill: 
1.  Lowers the maximum amount of earnings that may be garnished to enforce 
payment of a judgment arising from a consumer credit transaction; 
2. Makes some criminal fines discretionary rather than mandatory; 
3. Prohibits revoking probation solely on the basis of failure to pay a fine; 
4. Allows the court to reduce a fine in limited circumstances upon a showing of 
indigence; 
5. Prohibits incarceration solely for failure to pay a fine; 
6. Eliminates the failure to pay warrant; and 
7. Limits suspensions under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 29-A and contempt 
proceedings under Title 14 for indigent defendants.