Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §9, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1975, c. 740, §17, is further amended to read:

3. The District Courts shall have jurisdiction to try civil violations, and Class D and E crimes, and to impose sentence in Class A, B and C crimes in which the District Court has accepted a plea of guilty and to bind over for the grand jury all other crimes.

Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §15-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 657, §2, is further amended to read:

1. A law enforcement officer who has probable cause to believe a crime has been or is being committed by a person may issue or have delivered a written summons to that person directing that person to appear in the District Court appropriate trial court to answer the allegation that the person has committed the crime. The summons must include the signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged crime, the time and place of the alleged crime and the time, place and date the person is to appear in court. The form used must be the Uniform Summons and Complaint. A person to whom a summons is issued or delivered must give a written promise to appear. If the person refuses to sign the summons after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer, the person commits a Class E crime. As soon as practicable after service of the summons, the officer shall cause a copy of the summons to be filed with the court.

Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1205-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1995, c. 502, Pt. F, §14, is further amended to read:

2. The preliminary hearing must be held before an official designated by the Commissioner of Corrections. It must be held at a location as near to the place where the violation is alleged to have taken place as is reasonable under the circumstances. If it is alleged that the person violated probation because of the commission of a new offense, the preliminary hearing is limited to the issue of identification, if probable cause on the new offense has been found by the District Court or by the Superior Court, or the person has been indicted, has waived indictment or has been convicted.

SUMMARY

This bill makes statutory changes to the Maine Criminal Code in light of recent amendments to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure that eliminate the need for a bind-over hearing by starting a case that involves murder or at least one Class A,