Members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend passage of a bill that would revise Maine’s bail code and give judges discretion on whether to impose some criminal fines that are now mandatory.
The committee members made several amendments to the bill, L.D. 1639, and legislative staff members must now rework the language before the bill can be sent on to the full Legislature for consideration.
READ LEIGH SAUFLEY'S LETTER
The most significant amendment was the removal by the committee of a proposal that would require the state – rather than criminal defendants – to pay the fees of bail commissioners, which would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 million per year. Chief Justice Leigh Saufley submitted a letter to the committee after its public hearing Monday saying she would call for a study group to look into the issue instead.
The bill was introduced by Sen. David Burns, a Whiting Republican and co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, after Saufley said in her annual State of the Judiciary address last year that too many defendants are being jailed prior to trial.
Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen served as chairman of a task force of 36 people from diverse groups that looked into the problem and made many recommendations.
The bill addresses many bail code changes, such as allowing only a judge to order a defendant to be subjected to random searches by the police as a condition of pretrial instead of allowing a bail commissioner to do so.
The section of the bill pertaining to mandatory fines would allow judges discretion in three kinds of cases – simple assaults (not including domestic cases), drug offenses and operating a motor vehicle after the driver’s license has been suspended.
The bill also allows people to work off owed fines by performing community service at a minimum wage rate for convictions on misdemeanors and Class C crimes if they default on their scheduled payments to the court. Those who fail to pay without excuse may also be sent to jail for up to six months at a rate of $25 to $100 per day credit toward their owed fines.
Maine is taking up the issue of people being jailed for unpaid fines as the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter to all state court administrators on Monday discouraging states from jailing poor defendants who fail to pay fines or fees.
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