Sec. 19. 34-A MRSA §4111, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2003, c. 706, Pt. A, §13, is further amended to read:

3. Psychiatric hospitalization. The commissioner has all the power over a juvenile client or juvenile detainee that a guardian has over a ward and that a parent has over a child with regard to necessary psychiatric hospitalization, including hospitalization in a nonstate mental health institution or hospital for the mentally ill. If a juvenile client or juvenile detainee is or becomes 18 years of age while still under commitment or while still detained, the statutory guardianship of the commissioner over the juvenile client or juvenile detainee terminates, but the juvenile client or juvenile detainee remains subject to the control of the commissioner and staff and rules of the facility until the expiration of the period of commitment or until release or discharge from the facility. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to override the requirement to make application for psychiatric hospitalization in accordance with Title 34-B, section 3863, unless hospitalization is made with the juvenile client's or juvenile detainee's consent in accordance with Title 34-B, section 3831. If placement in a licensed residential care facility providing a mental health treatment program is an appropriate alternative to psychiatric hospitalization, that placement may be made by the commissioner with the juvenile client's or juvenile detainee's consent.

Sec. 20. 34-A MRSA §5402, sub-§2, ¶H, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 459, §6, is amended to read:

H. Issue warrants for the arrest of parole violators and juveniles who violate conditions of placement on community reintegration status pursuant to sections 3810 and 4112;

SUMMARY

This bill repeals a reference to an outdated Executive Order relating to the membership of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. It also makes consistent the observation provisions for the Department of Corrections' 2 juvenile facilities. It eliminates the authority to conditionally release or detain juveniles for juvenile crimes for which the present law does not allow incarceration, such as possession of marijuana.

The bill allows the Commissioner of Corrections to issue arrest warrants for juveniles who violate provisions of community