An Act To Require an Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment prior to Setting Bail in Domestic Violence Arrests in Which the Alleged Abuser Has Been Taken into Custody
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0640
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: RECKITT, KEIM, BROOKS, DENNO, JOHANSEN, TALBOT ROSS
Amends: 15 MRSA §1023, 15 MRSA §1024, 15 MRSA §1025, 15 MRSA §1025-A, 15 MRSA §1026

Legislative Document
No. 640
H.P. 454
House of Representatives, February 28, 2017
An Act To Require an Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment 
prior to Setting Bail in Domestic Violence Arrests in Which the 
Alleged Abuser Has Been Taken into Custody
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative RECKITT of South Portland.
Cosponsored by Senator KEIM of Oxford and
Representatives: BROOKS of Lewiston, DENNO of Cumberland, JOHANSEN of Monticello, 
TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §1023, sub-§4, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2013, c. 
424, Pt. A, §6, is amended to read: 
C.  In a case involving domestic violence, set preconviction bail for a defendant 
before making a good faith effort to obtain from the arresting officer, the responsible 
prosecutorial office, a jail employee or other law enforcement officer: 
(1)  A brief history of the alleged abuser defendant; 
(2)  The relationship of the parties; 
(3)  The name, address, phone number and date of birth of the victim;  
(4)  Existing conditions of protection from abuse orders, conditions of bail and 
conditions of probation; 
(5)  Information about the severity of the alleged offense; and 
(6)  Beginning no later than January 1, 2015 In a case in which the defendant has 
not been taken into custody, the results of a validated, evidence-based domestic 
violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine Commission on Domestic 
and Sexual Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-C, and 
approved by the Department of Public Safety conducted on the alleged abuser 
defendant when the results are available; 
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §1023, sub-§4, ¶C-1 is enacted to read: 
C-1.  In a case involving a Class B, Class C or Class D crime in which the defendant 
is alleged to have committed a domestic violence assault or criminal threatening with 
a dangerous weapon, set preconviction bail for the defendant who has been taken into 
custody before obtaining the results of a validated, evidence-based domestic violence 
risk assessment recommended by the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual 
Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-C and approved by the 
Department of Public Safety conducted on the defendant; 
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §1024, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 758, §20, is amended by 
adding at the end a new paragraph to read: 
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in a case involving a Class B, 
Class C or Class D crime in which the defendant is alleged to have committed a domestic 
violence assault or criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon in which the defendant 
has been taken into custody pending trial, a clerk of the Unified Criminal Docket may not 
take the personal recognizance of the defendant before obtaining the results of a 
validated, evidence-based domestic violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine 
Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004-I, 
subsection 74-C and approved by the Department of Public Safety conducted on the 
defendant. 
Sec. 4.  15 MRSA §1025, as amended by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. B, §28 and affected 
by Pt. D, §7 and c. 614, §9, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to 
read: 
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in a case involving a Class B, 
Class C or Class D crime in which the defendant is alleged to have committed a domestic 
violence assault or criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon in which the defendant 
has been taken into custody pending trial, a law enforcement officer may not take the 
personal recognizance of the defendant before obtaining the results of a validated, 
evidence-based domestic violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine 
Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004-I, 
subsection 74-C and approved by the Department of Public Safety conducted on the 
defendant. 
Sec. 5.  15 MRSA §1025-A, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 541, §1, is amended by 
adding at the end a new paragraph to read: 
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in a case involving a Class B, 
Class C or Class D crime in which the defendant is alleged to have committed a domestic 
violence assault or criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, an employee of the 
county jail having custody of the defendant may not, pending trial, release the defendant 
before obtaining the results of a validated, evidence-based domestic violence risk 
assessment recommended by the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, 
established in Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-C and approved by the Department 
of Public Safety conducted on the defendant. 
Sec. 6.  15 MRSA §1026, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 374, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  In general.  At the initial appearance before a judicial officer of a defendant in 
custody for a crime bailable as of right preconviction, the judicial officer may issue an 
order that, pending trial, the defendant be released: 
A.  On personal recognizance or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond 
under subsection 2-A; 
B.  On a condition or combination of conditions under subsection 3; or 
C.  On personal recognizance or execution of an unsecured appearance bond, 
accompanied by one or more conditions under subsection 3. 
Every order for the pretrial release of any defendant must include a waiver of extradition 
by the defendant and the conditions that the defendant refrain from new criminal conduct 
and not violate any pending protection from abuse orders pursuant to Title 19, section 
or Title 19-A, section 4011. 
In a case involving a Class B, Class C or Class D crime in which the defendant is alleged 
to have committed a domestic violence assault or criminal threatening with a dangerous 
weapon and has been taken into custody, a judicial officer may not issue an order that the 
defendant be released pending trial before obtaining the results of a validated, evidence-
based domestic violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine Commission on 
Domestic and Sexual Abuse, established in Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-C and 
approved by the Department of Public Safety conducted on the defendant. 
Sec. 7.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2018. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires that in every arrest for a Class B, C or D crime  in which the 
defendant is alleged to have committed a domestic violence assault or criminal 
threatening with a dangerous weapon and the defendant has been taken into custody, the 
defendant may not be released until the results have been obtained from a validated, 
evidence-based domestic violence risk assessment recommended by the Maine 
Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, established in the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 5, section 12004-I, subsection 74-C and approved by the Department of Public 
Safety conducted on the defendant.  The validated, evidence-based domestic violence risk 
assessment that is recommended by the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual 
Abuse and approved by the Department of Public Safety is known as the Ontario 
Domestic Assault Risk Assessment, ODARA.  The bill amends current law that requires 
the results of the ODARA, when the results are available, to apply the results only to 
arrests in which the defendant has not been taken into custody.  The bill contains a 
delayed effective date of January 1, 2018.