Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §3901, first ¶, as amended by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

Every dealer in junk shall keep a record of the name of every person selling junk to that dealer and the registration number of the motor vehicle used by that seller to deliver the junk. These records shall must be open for the inspection of any officer of the law. Whoever fails to make a record as provided by this section commits a civil violation for which a fine of not more than $100 may be adjudged Class E crime.

SUMMARY

This bill provides that a junk dealer who fails to keep a record of the name of every person selling junk to that dealer and of the registration number of the motor vehicle used by that seller to deliver the junk commits a Class E crime. Currently, that failure is a civil violation for which a fine of not more than $100 may be adjudged. This bill brings the provision into line with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, section 456, which makes it a Class E crime for dealers in personal property to fail to record dates of purchase, sellers' names and addresses and brief descriptions of property. Checking the records of dealers in secondhand property and junk assists law enforcement officers in locating property that may be the fruits of burglaries and robberies. Making the failure to keep these records a Class E crime is an incentive to junk dealers to comply with the law.