An Act To Amend the Maine Juvenile Code

Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §1004,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 552, §1, is further amended to read:

§ 1004. Applicability and exclusions

This chapter applies to the setting of bail for a defendant in a criminal proceeding, including the setting of bail for an alleged contemnor in a plenary contempt proceeding involving a punitive sanction under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66. It does not apply to the setting of bail in extradition proceedings under sections 201 to 229, post-conviction review proceedings under sections 2121 to 2132, probation revocation proceedings under Title 17-A, sections 1205 to 1207, supervised release revocation proceedings under Title 17-A, section 1233 or administrative release revocation proceedings under Title 17-A, sections 1349 to 1349-F, except to the extent and under the conditions stated in those sections. This chapter applies to the setting of bail for an alleged contemnor in a summary contempt proceeding involving a punitive sanction under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66 and to the setting of bail relative to a material witness only as specified in sections 1103 and 1104, respectively. This chapter does not apply to a person arrested for a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 or a person under 18 years of age who is arrested for a crime defined under Title 12 or Title 29-A that is not a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103.

Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3206,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 507, §8, is further amended to read:

§ 3206. Detention of juveniles

A person arrested for a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 or a person under 18 years of age who is arrested for a crime defined under Title 12 or Title 29-A that is not a juvenile crime as defined in section 3103 is not subject to chapter 105-A and may not be detained unless a juvenile community corrections officer has been notified within 2 hours after the person's arrest and has approved the detention. Section 3203-A, subsection 7, paragraphs A and B governing the facilities in which juveniles may be detained apply to any detention of such a juvenile following arrest.

Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3305, first ¶,  as amended by PL 1989, c. 741, §14, is further amended to read:

An answer to a petition need not be entered by a juvenile or by the juvenile's parents, guardian or legal custodian. A juvenile may enter an answer admitting the allegations of the petition, in accordance with Rules 11 and 11A, Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure , except that, if the case has been continued for investigation and for a bind-over hearing pursuant to section 3101, subsection 4, paragraph A, the court may not accept an answer to the petition until the court has conducted a bind-over hearing and has decided to retain jurisdiction of the juvenile in the Juvenile Court or until the prosecuting attorney has withdrawn the request to have the juvenile tried as an adult.

Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3310, sub-§7  is enacted to read:

summary

This bill makes the following changes.

1. It specifies that persons arrested for juvenile crimes, as well as persons under 18 years of age who are arrested for crimes outside of the Maine Juvenile Code, are not eligible for bail.

2. It provides that no answer may be entered on a juvenile petition when the State filed a request to have the juvenile tried as an adult or has requested the case be continued for a determination of whether such a request should be filed.

3. It allows the Juvenile Court to enter a default judgment when a juvenile fails to respond to a summons alleging a juvenile crime that would be a civil violation if committed by an adult.