Sec. 79. Transition provisions.

1. The District Court is the successor in every way to the powers, duties and functions of the former Administrative Court.

2. Any positions authorized and allocated subject to the personnel laws to the former Administrative Court are transferred to the District Court and may continue to be authorized. The Chief Judge and the Associate Judge of the former Administrative Court are District Court judges for all purposes. Their terms as District Court judges are for the balances of the terms for which they were confirmed as judges of the Administrative Court; no appointment or confirmation is required for each to serve the remainder of their terms as District Court judges.

3. All records, property and equipment previously belonging to or allocated for the use of the former Administrative Court become, on the effective date of this Act, part of the property of the District Court.

Sec. 80. Maine Revised Statutes amended; revision clause. Wherever in the Maine Revised Statutes the words "Administrative Court" appear or reference is made to those words, they are amended to read and mean "District Court," and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the jurisdiction of the District Court in 2 ways. First, it gives the District Court the equitable jurisdiction to order the partition of property by sale. Both the Superior Court and the probate courts currently have this equity jurisdiction in the situation where a life tenant is followed by a contingent remainder. Boyer v. Boyer, 1999 ME 128 (August 5, 1999).

Second, this bill gives the District Court all the jurisdiction, powers and responsibilities of the Administrative Court and eliminates the Administrative Court. The 2 sitting Administrative Court judges become District Court judges, serving the remainder of their terms without reappointment or reconfirmation.