HP1229, LD 1727, item 1, An Act To Correct Various Statutes Related to the Department of Corrections

An Act To Correct Various Statutes Related to the Department of Corrections

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§7, ¶A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 28, §3, is further amended to read:

A. A juvenile may be detained in a jail or other secure detention facility intended for use or primarily used for the detention of adults for which the Department of Corrections has established standards pursuant to Title 34-A, section 1208 only when the serving facility:

(1) Contains an area where juveniles are under direct staff observation at all times, in a separate section for juveniles that complies with mandatory sight and sound separation standards established by the Department of Corrections pursuant to Title 34-A, section 1208;

(2) Provides for no regular contact between the juveniles with the adult detainees or inmates; and

(3) Has an adequate staff to provide direct observation and supervise the juvenile's activities at all times during emergency detention.

Juveniles detained in adult-serving facilities may be placed only in the separate juvenile sections that comply with mandatory separation standards established by the Department of Corrections pursuant to Title 34-A, section 1208, unless the juvenile is held in an adult section of a facility under section 3205, subsection 2 or is bound over as an adult and held in an adult section of a facility pursuant to section 3101, subsection 4, paragraph E-2.

Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3203-A, sub-§7, ¶B, as amended by PL 1991, c. 493, §11, is further amended to read:

B. A juvenile may be held in custody or detention in any detention facility approved or operated by the Department of Corrections exclusively for juveniles ; any facility operated by the Department of Corrections for both adults and juveniles as long as the housing units for adults are fully separated from the housing units for juveniles and the Department of Corrections maintains at all times full compliance with mandatory sight and sound separation standards established by federal law; or a temporary holding resource that provides secure supervision approved by the Department of Corrections, pending the juvenile's release or hearing in the Juvenile Court.

Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1326-F, as amended by PL 2011, c. 464, §25, is further amended to read:

§ 1326-F. Former Department of Corrections clients owing restitution

An offender is responsible for paying any restitution outstanding at the time the term of commitment to the Department of Corrections or period of probation is completed. An offender who has complied with the time and method of payment of monetary compensation determined by the Department of Corrections during the period of probation or determined by the court at the time of sentencing shall continue to make payments to the Department of Corrections in accordance with that payment schedule unless modified by the court pursuant to section 1328-A or 1329. An offender who has not complied with the time and method of payment of monetary compensation determined by the Department of Corrections during the period of probation or determined by the court at the time of sentencing must be returned to the court for further disposition pursuant to section 1329. An offender who is unconditionally released and discharged from institutional confinement with the Department of Corrections upon the expiration of the sentence must, upon application of the office of the attorney for the State, be returned to the court for specification by the court of the time and method of payment of monetary compensation, which may be ordered paid to the office of the attorney for the State who prosecuted the case or to the clerk of the court. Prior to the offender's release and discharge, the Department of Corrections shall provide the office of the attorney for the State who prosecuted the case written notice as to the amount of restitution outstanding. An income withholding order issued pursuant to section 1326-B remains effective and enforceable until the restitution is paid in full, even after an offender is no longer in the custody or under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.

Sec. 4. 34-A MRSA §3035, first ¶, as amended by PL 1991, c. 314, §40, is further amended to read:

The commissioner may adopt, implement and establish rules for rehabilitative programs, including work release, restitution and furlough, as authorized by Title 17-A, chapter 54, within the facilities under the commissioner's control.

Sec. 5. 34-A MRSA §3036-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. ZZZ, §2, is further amended to read:

2. Participation. The commissioner may transfer any prisoner committed to the department to be transferred from a correctional facility to supervised community confinement subject to the following restrictions.

A. A transfer to supervised community confinement may only be granted subject to rules adopted by the commissioner.

B. A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement until the prisoner has served at least 2/3 of the term of imprisonment imposed or, in the case of a split sentence, at least 2/3 of the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253 if the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, the unsuspended portion is more than 5 years. A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement until the prisoner has served at least 1/2 of the term of imprisonment imposed or, in the case of a split sentence, at least 1/2 of the unsuspended portion after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253 if the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, the unsuspended portion is 5 years or less.

C. Except as provided in paragraph C-1, a prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement unless the prisoner has no more than 18 months remaining on the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, on the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253.

C-1. If the commissioner determines that the average statewide probation case load is no more than 90 probationers to one probation officer, then a prisoner may be transferred to supervised community confinement if that prisoner has no more than 2 years remaining on the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, on the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253.

D. A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement if the prisoner has a security classification level higher than minimum.

summary

This bill makes corrections to various statutory provisions related to the Department of Corrections.

Sections 1 and 2 amend the part of the Maine Juvenile Code having to do with authorized places of detention for juveniles that, due to an oversight, was not amended when the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 34-A was amended to allow adults to be housed at the Mountain View Correctional Facility.

Section 3 amends a statutory provision having to do with the collection of restitution from former Department of Corrections clients to recognize that the time and method of payment of restitution are, in some cases, determined by the sentencing court and not the department.

Section 4 removes an inapposite reference from a statutory provision authorizing rules for work release, furlough and other rehabilitative programs.

Section 5 corrects a grammatical error in a statutory provision relating to supervised community confinement.

HP1229 LD 1727	Session - 129th Maine Legislature		LR 2329 Item 1
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