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An Act To Amend the Laws Relating to Probation and Supervised Release for Sex Offenders
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §1201, sub-§1, ¶A-1,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 265, §7, is further amended to read:
 
A-1. The conviction is for a Class D or Class E crime other than:
 
(1) A Class D or Class E crime relative to which, based upon both the written agreement of the parties and a court finding, the facts and circumstances of the underlying criminal episode giving rise to the conviction generated probable cause to believe the defendant had committed a Class A, Class B or Class C crime in the course of that criminal episode and, as agreed upon in writing by the parties and found by the court, the defendant has no prior conviction for murder or for a Class A, Class B or Class C crime and has not been placed on probation pursuant to this subparagraph on any prior occasion;
 
(2) A Class D crime that the State pleads and proves was committed against a family or household member under chapter 9 or 13 or section 506-B, 554, 555 or 758. As used in this subparagraph, "family or household member" has the same meaning as in Title 19-A, section 4002, subsection 4;
 
(3) A Class D or Class E crime in chapter 11 or 12;
 
(4) A Class D crime under section 210-A;
 
(5) A Class D or Class E crime under section 556, section 854, excluding subsection 1, paragraph A, subparagraph (1), or section 855;
 
(6) A Class D crime in chapter 45 relating to a schedule W drug; or
 
(7) A Class D or Class E crime under Title 29-A, section 2411, subsection 1-A, paragraph B.
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §1203, sub-§1-A, ¶D  is enacted to read:
 
D.  If execution of the sentence is stayed, the court may revoke probation for criminal conduct committed during the period of stay or for failure to report as ordered.
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1206, sub-§10  is enacted to read:
 
10.    If a probation revocation proceeding results in the court vacating a part of the suspension of execution as to imprisonment while the person is in execution of the initial unsuspended portion of the sentence, the portion of imprisonment to be serve as a result of the vacating commences only after the initial unsuspended portion of imprisonment has been fully served. If separate probation revocation proceedings result in the vacating of 2 or more parts of the suspension of execution as to imprisonment on the same sentence, the portions to be served must be served successively.
Sec. 4. 17-A MRSA §1231, sub-§6,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 673, §2, is further amended to read:
 
6.    The court may revoke a period of supervised release pursuant to section 1233 for any ground specified in subsection 7. If the court revokes a period of supervised release, the court shall require the person to serve time in prison under the custody of the Department of Corrections. This time in prison may equal all or part of the period of supervised release, without credit for time served on post-release supervision. The remaining portion of the period of supervised release that is not required to be served in prison remains in effect to be served after the person's release and is subject to revocation at a later date.
Sec. 5. 17-A MRSA §1231, sub-§7  is enacted to read:
 
7.    The court may revoke a period of supervised release for:
 
A.  A violation of supervised release;
 
B.  Criminal conduct committed during the term of imprisonment; or
 
C.  Refusal during the term of imprisonment to actively participate, when requested to do so by the Department of Corrections, in a sex offender treatment program in accordance with the expectations and judgment of the treatment providers.
Sec. 6. 17-A MRSA §1349, sub-§1, ¶A,  as enacted by PL 2003, c. 711, Pt. A, §19, is amended to read:
 
A. The statute that the person is convicted of violating expressly provides that the fine and imprisonment penaltiespenalty it authorizes may not be suspended, in which case the convicted person must be sentenced to the imprisonment and required to pay the fine authorized therein;
Sec. 7. 17-A MRSA §1349-D, sub-§4,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 265, §18, is further amended to read:
 
4.    If during the period of administrative release the attorney for the State has probable cause to believe that the person placed on administrative release has violated a requirement of administrative release, the attorney for the State may apply for a warrant for the arrest of the person. Unless sooner released, the court shall provide the person with an initial appearance on the revocation of administrative release within 145 days after arrest. A copy of the motion must be furnished to the person prior to or at the initial appearance. The initial appearance is as provided in section 1205-C, subsection 4. Bail is as provided in section 1205-C, subsections 5 and 6.
Sec. 8. 32 MRSA §13723, sub-§7, ¶A,  as amended by PL 1991, c. 274, §2, is further amended to read:
 
A.  Prescriptions, orders and records required by this chapter and stocks of prescription and legend drugs are open only to the board, the board's inspectors and investigators, federal and state law enforcement officers whose duty it is to enforce the laws of this State or of the United States relating to scheduled drugs or controlled substances or to enforce conditions of probation or other supervision imposed by a court relating to scheduled drugs or controlled substances and other law enforcement officers authorized by the board or the Attorney General for the purposes of inspecting, investigating and gathering evidence of violations of law or any rule of the board. NoAn officer having knowledge by virtue of the officer's office of any such prescription, order or record may not divulge that knowledge, except before a licensing or registration board or officer or in connection with a prosecution or proceeding in court.
Sec. 9. 34-A MRSA §5404, sub-§2,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 488, §§23 and 24, is further amended to read:
 
2. Arrest.   Arrest, after completing the entry level and orientation training course prescribed by the commissioner, in the following circumstances:
 
A. Arrest violators of probation or supervised release for sex offenders and parole violators and return parole violators upon request of the commissioner;
 
B. Arrest and return to a correctional facility persons released from the correctional facility under section 3035 or transferred from the facility under section 3036-A; and
 
C. If the officer has probable cause to believe that a person under the supervision of the department has violated a condition of that person's probation, supervised release for sex offenders, parole or intensive supervision, the officer may arrest that person; and
 
D.  Arrest for a violation of Title 17-A, section 751 a person who intentionally interferes by force, violence or intimidation or by any physical act with a probation and parole officer performing or purporting to perform an official function;
Sec. 10. 34-A MRSA §9888  is enacted to read:
§ 9888.  Administrative preliminary hearing
Whenever it appears that a person accepted for supervision under this compact arrested for an alleged violation of a supervision condition is entitled under the compact to a determination of whether there is probable cause to believe the person has violated a condition of that person's supervision, the determination must be made at an administrative preliminary hearing meeting the requirements of the compact and held before an official designated by the Commissioner of Corrections within 5 days after the arrest, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the law relating to probation and supervised release for sex offenders as follows. The bill:
1. Provides that if a stay of execution is given by a court on a term of imprisonment on a split sentence, the court may revoke the subsequent probation for criminal conduct committed during the stay or for failure to report as ordered;
2. Clarifies that if probation is partially revoked on more than one occasion on the same sentence the periods of imprisonment imposed are successive and that a period of imprisonment imposed on a partial revocation does not commence until the initial unsuspended portion of imprisonment has been fully served;
3. Adds to the provisions for supervised release for sex offenders provisions similar to those for probation regarding revocation for criminal conduct during imprisonment or failure to cooperate with sex offender treatment during imprisonment;
4. Allows probation officers to see pharmacy records of probationers and others under the officers' supervision as the result of a court order on the same basis as other law enforcement officers;
5. Gives probation officers the power to arrest for obstruction of government administration those who interfere with them while they are performing their official functions;
6. Sets out explicitly the "plead and prove" requirement that federal constitutional law requires whenever the available sentencing alternatives depend on the crime committed;
7. Adds a cross-reference in the provision governing revocation of supervised release for sex offenders;
8. Removes the prohibition on administrative release when there is a mandatory fine provision as the imposition of administrative release is not inconsistent with the imposition of a fine;
9. Makes the timeline for an initial appearance on an administrative release revocation consistent with the timeline for an initial appearance on a probation revocation; and
10. Makes it clear that probable cause determinations for persons transferred from other jurisdictions for probation or parole supervision in Maine are done administratively since the Maine courts have no role in the imposition of supervision or the revoking of supervision.