An Act To Implement a Motor Vehicle Violation Electronic Citation Program
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0458
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: CAMPBELL, DIAMOND, HARLOW, LONGSTAFF, WHITE
Amends: 29-A MRSA §2601

Legislative Document 
No. 458 
H.P. 297 
House of Representatives, February 24, 2015 
An Act To Implement a Motor Vehicle Violation Electronic Citation 
Program 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CAMPBELL of Orrington. 
Cosponsored by Senator DIAMOND of Cumberland and 
Representatives: HARLOW of Portland, LONGSTAFF of Waterville, WHITE of Washburn. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read: 
3.  Form of Violation Summons and Complaint.  Every law enforcement agency 
officer in this State shall must use traffic summonses for traffic infractions in the form 
known as the Violation Summons and Complaint, which must be uniform throughout the 
State and must be issued in books with summonses in no less than quadruplicate and 
meeting the requirements of this chapter.  The form must include, at a minimum, the 
signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of 
the alleged offense, the mailing address and e-mail address of the person who has been 
served the Violation Summons and Complaint, except as provided in Title 5, section 
90-B, and the date on or before which the person is to file a written answer with the 
violations bureau.  The Violation Summons and Complaint must also include a statement 
that signing the summons does not constitute an admission or plea of guilty and that 
refusal to sign after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer is a 
separate Class E crime.  The form of the Violation Summons and Complaint must be 
approved by the Chief Judge of the District Court prior to its use. 
Sec. 2.  29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§3-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 112, §9, is 
amended to read: 
3-A.  Electronic Violation Summons and Complaint.  Notwithstanding subsection 
3, the every law enforcement officer in this State must use an electronic Violation 
Summons and Complaint when issuing a traffic summons for a traffic infraction if 
requested by the person who has been served the traffic summons.  The Chief Judge of 
the District Court may shall approve for use an electronic Violation Summons and 
Complaint form.  The electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form must include, 
at a minimum, an electronic or digital signature of the officer, a brief description of the 
alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense, the mailing address and e-mail 
address of the person who has been served the electronic Violation Summons and 
Complaint, except as provided in Title 5, section 90-B, and the date on or before which 
the person is to file a written answer with the violations bureau. 
Sec. 3.  29-A MRSA §2601, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read: 
9.  Responsibility of law enforcement officer to file summonses and complaints 
with District Court.  A law enforcement officer issuing a Violation Summons and 
Complaint under subsection 3 charging the commission of a traffic infraction shall file 
the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint with the violations bureau within 5 
days of the issuance of the Violation Summons and Complaint.  The clerk of the District 
Court Violations Bureau shall enter a Violation Summons and Complaint into the District 
Court Violations Bureau case management system within 2 business days of the filing of 
the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint under subsection 3 by a law 
enforcement officer.  A law enforcement officer issuing a Uniform Summons and 
Complaint that charges the commission of an offense shall file the original of the 
Uniform Summons and Complaint with the District Court having jurisdiction over the 
offense or in such other location as instructed by the Chief Judge of the District Court 
without undue delay and, in any event, within 5 days after the issuance of the Uniform 
Summons and Complaint. 
Sec. 4.  Electronic system; District Court Violations Bureau; report.  The 
Chief Judge of the District Court, or the chief judge's designee, shall provide a report to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation 
matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
judiciary matters no later than January 15, 2017 regarding implementation of an 
electronic case management, data storage and filing system for the judicial branch.  The 
report must summarize efficiencies realized by electronic processing of traffic 
summonses within the District Court Violations Bureau. 
The Chief Judge of the District Court and the Commissioner of Public Safety shall 
facilitate the use of roadside credit card apparatus for payment of a traffic summons and 
shall develop and initiate a campaign to educate the public about electronic Violation 
Summonses and Complaints and roadside credit card payments. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires every law enforcement officer in the State to use an electronic 
Violation Summons and Complaint form if requested by the person who has been served 
a traffic summons.  The Chief Judge of the District Court is required to approve for use 
an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint. 
The bill also requires both the paper and electronic forms for a traffic summons for a 
traffic infraction, referred to as the Violation Summons and Complaint, to include the 
regular mailing address and the e-mail address of the person who has been served the 
traffic summons.  The bill also requires that the clerk of the District Court Violations 
Bureau enter the paper form of a Violation Summons and Complaint into the violations 
bureau's case management system within 2 business days of the law enforcement officer's 
filing of the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint. 
The bill also requires that the Chief Judge of the District Court provide a report to the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation matters 
and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary 
matters no later than January 15, 2017 regarding implementation of an electronic case 
management, data storage and filing system for the judicial branch.  The bill provides that 
the report must summarize efficiencies realized by electronic processing of traffic 
summonses within the District Court Violations Bureau.  The bill also requires the Chief 
Judge of the District Court and the Commissioner of Public Safety to facilitate the 
roadside credit card payment of traffic summonses for traffic infractions and to develop 
and initiate a campaign to educate the public about electronic Violations Summonses and 
Complaints and roadside credit card payment.