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Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Address Vandalism of a Cemetery’
Amend the bill by inserting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 1.  13 MRSA §1101, sub-§3  is enacted to read:
 
3.  Cemeteries.    A municipality shall repair and restore tombs, monuments, gravestones, markers and any fences, railings, curbs or other enclosures that have been damaged and for which repair and restoration have not been provided by a person or organization.’
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 in paragraph A in the last line (page 1, line 16 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "C crime;" and inserting the following: 'D crime; or'
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 in paragraph B in the last line (page 1, line 24 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "C crime; or" and inserting the following: 'D crime.'
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 1 by striking out all of paragraph C (page 1, lines 25 to 32 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 4 by striking out all of the first paragraph (page 1, lines 36 to 39 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘4.   Notwithstanding section 1323, subsections 1 and 2 and section 1325, subsections 1 and 2, the court shall order restitution under chapter 54 if a violation of subsection 1 results in any damages or pecuniary loss. If possible, damages must be calculated by an appropriate professional conservator. The following may be a claimant:’
Amend the bill in section 5 in §507-B in the first line in the headnote (page 2, line 17 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "gravestones" the following: 'and memorials'
Amend the bill in section 5 in §507-B in subsection 4 by striking out all of the first paragraph (page 2, lines 39 and 40 and page 3, lines 1 and 2 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘4.      Notwithstanding section 1323, subsections 1 and 2 and section 1325, subsections 1 and 2, the court shall order restitution under chapter 54 if a violation of subsection 1 results in any damages or pecuniary loss. If possible, damages must be calculated by an appropriate professional conservator. The following may be a claimant under section 1324:’
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 8.
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment is the minority report of the committee. The amendment retains the provisions of the bill that make restitution mandatory in criminal cases involving interference with a cemetery or burial ground and illegal possession of gravestones. The amendment strikes from the bill the provision that removes from the consideration of the court the inability to pay of a person who commits these crimes. The amendment strikes from the bill the strict liability crime of removal of a flower, flag, flag holder or memorial token from a grave, tomb, monument or burial lot and the crime of owning or controlling an animal that destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures or removes any tomb, monument, gravestone, marker, metal plaque, flag, flag holder or veteran's grave marker or other structure or thing placed or designed as a memorial or to protect a memorial for the dead, or any portion or fragment of any such memorial, or any fence, railing, curb or other enclosure for the burial of the dead. The amendment maintains the designation in current law of interference with a cemetery or burial ground as a Class D crime. The amendment requires municipalities to repair and restore tombs, monuments, gravestones, markers and any fences, railings, curbs or other enclosures that have been damaged and for which repair and restoration have not been provided by a person or organization.