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An Act To Amend Certain Laws Affecting the Judicial Branch
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §163, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 377, §2 and affected by §17, is further amended to read:
 
1. District Court funds.   Except as otherwise provided by law, all fines, forfeitures, surcharges, assessments and fees collected in any division of the District Court or by the violations bureau must be paid to the clerk of that District Court, who shall deposit them in a special account in a timely manner. Once each month, the clerk shall remit the sums to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit them to the General Fund. At the same time, the clerk shall remit the sums that have been collected in accordance with section 1057; Title 5, chapter 316-A; Title 7, section 3910-A; Title 17, section 1015; Title 29-A, section 2411, subsection 7; former Title 34-A, section 1210-A, subsection 9; and Title 34-A, section 1210-B, subsection 6. Funds received by the clerk as bail in criminal cases must be deposited daily in a special account. The clerk shall deposit the funds in an interest-bearing account unless the clerk determines that it is not cost-effective to do so. Interest accrued in the account is the property of and accrues to the State. The forfeiture and setoff of bail is governed as otherwise provided by law.
 
The court shall file a monthly report with the State Auditor itemizing the amount of fines, surcharges and assessments imposed and to whom each is payable.
Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §554, as amended by PL 1991, c. 132, §3, is further amended to read:
§ 554.Accounting by clerks
Clerks of judicial courts shall account monthly under oath to the State Auditor for all fees received by them or payable to them by virtue of their office, except those portions of fees collected for passports and naturalization proceedings that are payable to the Federal Government, specify the items and pay the whole amount of the same to the Treasurer of State at such times and in such manner as the Chief Justice of the Superior Court or the Chief Justice's designee shall from time to time specifyspecifies.
Sec. 3. 14 MRSA §3147, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 414, §2, is amended to read:
§ 3147.Payment by credit card
The Judicial Department may implement a procedure for the payment of fines up to $500 by use of major credit cards and may assess a reasonable fee upon the defendant to cover any administrative expenses incurred in connection with the use of credit cards as a method of paying fines.
Sec. 4. 25 MRSA §3501, as amended by PL 1983, c. 254, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 3501.Application of chapter
This chapter shall applyapplies to all personal property of which possession is transferred to a police department or other law enforcement agency of the State or any political subdivision thereof, under circumstances supporting a reasonable belief that such property was abandoned, lost or stolen, or otherwise illegally possessed, except property seized during search and retained and ultimately returned, destroyed or otherwise disposed of pursuant to a court order or some other law hereafter applicable to specific property or circumstance. This chapter shall applyapplies to personal property seized during search and retained whichthat is not offered or admitted as evidence and whichthat, after retention by a police department or other law enforcement agency, becomes abandoned. This chapter does not apply to unclaimed personal property that has been confiscated at courthouses by judicial marshals. Such property that remains unclaimed for more than 30 days may be disposed of under the direction of the State Court Administrator.
Sec. 5. 29-A MRSA §2434, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:
 
3. Physical custody of license.   Unless the defendant appeals and a stay of execution of the suspension is granted, the court shall take physical custody of a license issued by this State or another state, foreign country or province if that person is residing or employed in this State. The court may take a license issued by another state, foreign country or province if the person is not residing or employed in this State. If the court is unable to take physical custody of the license at the time of sentencing, either because the suspension has been stayed pursuant to subsection 4 or for any other reason, the license is void at such time as is specified in the court order.
 
SUMMARY
This bill repeals a provision of law requiring the District Court to file a monthly report with the State Auditor regarding fines, surcharges and assessments imposed by the court and a provision of law requiring clerks of judicial courts accounting to the State Auditor for all fees received by them or payable to them to do so under oath. It also removes the $500 limit on the amount of a fine a person may pay with a credit card. It clarifies that if a driver’s license is suspended by order of the court for any conviction for operating under the influence or for any offense for which the court suspends a license or registration, and the defendant does not physically surrender the license in court, the license is still void, notwithstanding that it remains in the defendant’s possession. It also permits the State Court Administrator to order the disposal or destruction of unclaimed property confiscated at courthouses by judicial marshals if the property remains unclaimed for more than 30 days.