PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Ease Financial Burdens for Juveniles Involved in the Justice System
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3313, sub-§2, ¶F, as enacted by PL 1977, c. 520, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§1, ¶E, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 2, §35, is amended to read:
 
E. The court may require the juvenile to make restitution in an amount no greater than $800 for any damage to thea victim or other authorized claimant as compensation for economic loss upon reasonable conditions that the court determines appropriate. When determining the amount of restitution, the court may impose only an amount that the juvenile can reasonably pay while under commitment to a secure facility or under conditions of release, conditions of a deferred disposition agreement, conditions of a filing agreement or conditions of probation. Prior to ordering restitution under this paragraph, the court shall hold a hearing and make findings as to the juvenile's ability to pay pursuant to Title 17-A, section 1325, subsection 4. A court may order a juvenile to perform court-approved community service to satisfy any restitution required by the court. For the purposes of this paragraph, the provisions of Title 17-A, chapter 54 apply, except that sectionTitle 17-A, sections 1326-B, 1326-E, 1326-F, 1329 doesand 1330-C do not apply. Enforcement of a restitution order is available pursuant to subsection 7. If the restitution was a condition of probation, the attorney for the State may, with written consent of the juvenile community corrections officer, file a motion to revokemodify probation.
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2009, c. 608, §2, is further amended to read:
 
7. Enforcement of a dispositional order.  AfterTo enforce a dispositional order following an adjudication for a juvenile crime, after notice and hearing and in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66, the court may exercise its inherent contempt power by way of a plenary contempt proceeding involving punitive sanctions, accompanied or unaccompanied by remedial sanctions, to enforce the disposition ordered following an adjudication for a juvenile crime or to enforce any order requiring the appearance of a juvenile before the court. Any confinement imposed as a punitive or remedial sanction upon a person who has not attained 18 years of age may not exceed 30 days and must be served in a facility approved or operated by the Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles. Any confinement imposed as a punitive or remedial sanction upon a person who has attained 18 years of age, if to be served in a facility approved or operated by the Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles, may not exceed 30 days. To enforce the disposition ordered following an adjudication for a juvenile crime defined in section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B or C upon a person who has not attained 18 years of age, the court shall, at the time of the disposition, provide written notice to the juvenile of the court's authority to enforce the dispositional order through an exercise of its inherent contempt power and that a contempt order could include an order of confinement for up to 30 days as a punitive sanction and for up to 30 days as a remedial sanction. Except as explicitly set out in this subsection, nothing in this subsection affects the court's ability to exercise its contempt powers for persons who have attained 18 years of ageexcept that the court may not order confinement or impose an additional monetary penalty as either a punitive or remedial sanction. Upon a motion by the State to enforce the payment of restitution or a fine, the court may order as a punitive or remedial sanction that a juvenile subject to the provisions of this subsection earn credit against a fine or restitution owed by completing court-approved community service at an hourly rate set by the court that may be no less than the minimum wage established in Title 26, section 664. In making an order to enforce the payment of restitution or a fine under this subsection, the court may not consider whether the juvenile was found to have excusably or inexcusably failed to comply with the court order.
 
In addition to the contempt powers described in this subsection, upon a default in payment of a fine or restitution, execution may be levied and other measures authorized for the collection of unpaid civil judgments may be taken to collect the unpaid fine or restitution. A levy of execution does not discharge a juvenile confined as a punitive sanction and does not discharge a juvenile confined as a remedial sanction until the full amount of the fine or restitution has been paid.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Juvenile Code concerning the payment of restitution and fines in the following ways:
1. It removes from the consideration of withholding an institutional disposition following the adjudication of a juvenile crime the juvenile’s ability or agreement to make restitution for a victim's damages or injuries;
2. It caps the amount of restitution a juvenile may be ordered to pay at $800, requires the court to hold a hearing to determine the juvenile’s financial capacity and allows the court to order community service in place of restitution; and
3. Regarding a contempt proceeding concerning the enforcement of a dispositional order following the adjudication of a juvenile crime, the bill removes the ability of a court to incarcerate a juvenile or to levy execution of the monetary penalty or restitution to be collected as an unpaid civil judgment. The bill authorizes the court as a punitive or remedial sanction for the nonpayment of the restitution or fine to require the juvenile to earn credit by court-approved community service, which must be at a rate no less than the state minimum wage without considering whether the nonpayment was excusable or inexcusable.