An Act To Ease Financial Burdens for Juveniles Involved in the Justice System
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1304
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: BAILEY, MORALES, TALBOT ROSS, WARREN, CARPENTER
Amends: 15 MRSA §3313, 15 MRSA §3314

Legislative Document
No. 1304
H.P. 947
House of Representatives, March 19, 2019
An Act To Ease Financial Burdens for Juveniles Involved in the 
Justice System
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BAILEY of Saco.
Cosponsored by Representatives: MORALES of South Portland, TALBOT ROSS of Portland, 
WARREN of Hallowell, Senator: CARPENTER of Aroostook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §3313, sub-§2, ¶F, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 2.  15 MRSA §3314, sub-§1, ¶E, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 2, §35, is 
amended to read:
E.  The court may require the juvenile to make restitution in an amount no greater 
than $800 for any damage to the a victim or other authorized claimant as 
compensation for economic loss upon reasonable conditions that the court determines 
appropriate.  When determining the amount of restitution, the court may impose only 
an amount that the juvenile can reasonably pay while under commitment to a secure 
facility or under conditions of release, conditions of a deferred disposition agreement, 
conditions of a filing agreement or conditions of probation. Prior to ordering 
restitution under this paragraph, the court shall hold a hearing and make findings as to 
the juvenile's ability to pay pursuant to Title 17-A, section 1325, subsection 4.  A 
court may order a juvenile to perform court-approved community service to satisfy 
any restitution required by the court.  For the purposes of this paragraph, the 
provisions of Title 17-A, chapter 54 apply, except that section Title 17-A, sections 
1326-B, 1326-E, 1326-F, 1329 does and 1330-C do not apply.  Enforcement of a 
restitution order is available pursuant to subsection 7.  If the restitution was a 
condition of probation, the attorney for the State may, with written consent of the 
juvenile community corrections officer, file a motion to revoke modify probation.
Sec. 3.  15 MRSA §3314, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2009, c. 608, §2, is further 
amended to read:
7.  Enforcement of a dispositional order.  After To enforce a dispositional order 
following an adjudication for a juvenile crime, after notice and hearing and in accordance 
with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66, the court may exercise its inherent 
contempt power by way of a plenary contempt proceeding involving punitive sanctions, 
accompanied or unaccompanied by remedial sanctions, to enforce the disposition ordered 
following an adjudication for a juvenile crime or to enforce any order requiring the 
appearance of a juvenile before the court.  Any confinement imposed as a punitive or 
remedial sanction upon a person who has not attained 18 years of age may not exceed 30 
days and must be served in a facility approved or operated by the Department of 
Corrections exclusively for juveniles.  Any confinement imposed as a punitive or 
remedial sanction upon a person who has attained 18 years of age, if to be served in a 
facility approved or operated by the Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles, 
may not exceed 30 days.  To enforce the disposition ordered following an adjudication 
for a juvenile crime defined in section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B or C upon a 
person who has not attained 18 years of age, the court shall, at the time of the disposition, 
provide written notice to the juvenile of the court's authority to enforce the dispositional 
order through an exercise of its inherent contempt power and that a contempt order could 
include an order of confinement for up to 30 days as a punitive sanction and for up to 30 
days as a remedial sanction.  Except as explicitly set out in this subsection, nothing in this 
subsection affects the court's ability to exercise its contempt powers for persons who have 
attained 18 years of age except that the court may not order confinement or impose an 
additional monetary penalty as either a punitive or remedial sanction.  Upon a motion by 
the State to enforce the payment of restitution or a fine, the court may order as a punitive 
or remedial sanction that a juvenile subject to the provisions of this subsection earn credit 
against a fine or restitution owed by completing court-approved community service at an 
hourly rate set by the court that may be no less than the minimum wage established in 
Title 26, section 664. In making an order to enforce the payment of restitution or a fine 
under this subsection, the court may not consider whether the juvenile was found to have 
excusably or inexcusably failed to comply with the court order.
In addition to the contempt powers described in this subsection, upon a default in 
payment of a fine or restitution, execution may be levied and other measures authorized 
for the collection of unpaid civil judgments may be taken to collect the unpaid fine or 
restitution.  A levy of execution does not discharge a juvenile confined as a punitive 
sanction and does not discharge a juvenile confined as a remedial sanction until the full 
amount of the fine or restitution has been paid.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Juvenile Code concerning the payment of restitution and 
fines in the following ways:
1.  It removes from the consideration of withholding an institutional disposition 
following the adjudication of a juvenile crime the juvenile’s ability or agreement to make 
restitution for a victim's damages or injuries;
2.  It caps the amount of restitution a juvenile may be ordered to pay at $800, requires 
the court to hold a hearing to determine the juvenile’s financial capacity and allows the 
court to order community service in place of restitution; and
3.  Regarding a contempt proceeding concerning the enforcement of a dispositional 
order following the adjudication of a juvenile crime, the bill removes the ability of a court 
to incarcerate a juvenile or to levy execution of the monetary penalty or restitution to be 
collected as an unpaid civil judgment.  The bill authorizes the court as a punitive or 
remedial sanction for the nonpayment of the restitution or fine to require the juvenile to 
earn credit by court-approved community service, which must be at a rate no less than the 
state minimum wage without considering whether the nonpayment was excusable or 
inexcusable.