LD 1802

132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
  FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document  No. 1802
S.P. 701  In Senate, April 29, 2025
  An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Maine
  Commission on Public Defense Services to Clarify When an Indigent
  Criminal Defendant Is Entitled to Counsel at State Expense
   Reported by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland for the Joint Standing Committee on
Judiciary pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 4, section 1804, subsection 3, paragraph
H.
   Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed pursuant to Joint
Rule 218.
  DAREK M. GRANT
  Secretary of the Senate
  Printed on recycled paper
1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2     Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §810, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 485, §1, is amended
3 to read:
4     A. There is a risk upon conviction that the accused may be sentenced to a term of
5     imprisonment;. For purposes of this paragraph, there is a risk upon conviction that the
6     accused may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment if:
7(1) The prosecutor informs the court that the prosecutor will, if the accused is
8convicted, request that the accused be sentenced to a term of imprisonment;
9(2) The accused is in custody at the time of the initial appearance or arraignment;
10(3) The accused is held in custody as a result of the criminal proceeding for more
11than a total of 24 hours; or
12(4) A court has found a risk upon conviction that the accused may be sentenced to
13a term of imprisonment in any other currently pending criminal matter in which
14the accused is a defendant;
15SUMMARY
16      This bill is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary to implement
17 recommendations of the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. The committee
18 has not taken a position on the substance of this bill. By reporting this bill out, the
19 committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest that it agrees or disagrees with
20 any aspect of this bill; instead, the committee is reporting the bill out for the sole purpose
21 of having a bill printed that can be referred to the committee for an appropriate public
22 hearing and subsequent processing in the normal course. The committee is taking this
23 action to ensure clarity and transparency in the legislative review of the proposals contained
24 in the bill.
25     The bill clarifies when an indigent criminal defendant is entitled to counsel at state
26 expense because there is a risk upon conviction that the accused may be sentenced to a term
27 of imprisonment.
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