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An Act To Reduce Bomb Threats at Public Institutions and Businesses
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §509, sub-§1-A  is enacted to read:
 
1-A.    Notwithstanding the provisions of section 57, a person is guilty as an accomplice to false public alarm if that person has specific knowledge concerning the perpetrator of an act of false public alarm and within 24 hours of obtaining the knowledge fails to notify a law enforcement officer or a member of a fire fighting agency or other person who is likely to notify a law enforcement officer or a member of a fire fighting agency.
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §509, sub-§2,  as enacted by PL 1975, c. 499, §1, is amended to read:
 
2.   False public alarm is a Class D crime. A person who is under 18 years of age and is convicted of or adjudicated under Title 15, chapter 507 as having committed false public alarm may not possess a drivers license or instruction permit or attend a driver education program under Title 29-A, chapter 11 until the July 1st subsequent to the person's 18th birthday.
Sec. 3. Notice. The Department of Education shall require that an elementary or secondary school post the provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 509, subsection 2 regarding a person under 18 years of age in plain sight where students congregate inside each school building.
 
SUMMARY
This bill makes a person with specific knowledge of the perpetrator of an act of a false public alarm an accomplice to the crime of false public alarm if that person does not notify authorities within 24 hours of obtaining knowledge of the crime. This bill also prohibits a person under 18 years of age who is convicted of or adjudicated as having committed a false public alarm from possessing a driver's license or instruction permit or attending a driver education program until the July 1st subsequent to the person's 18th birthday and directs the Department of Education to require every elementary and secondary school to post notice of these provisions.