Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2601 – Summons and Complaint
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1. Form of Uniform Summons and Complaint. Every law enforcement agency in this State shall use traffic summonses for civil violations defined in this Title and criminal traffic offenses defined in Title 23, section 1980 or this Title in the form known as the Uniform Summons and Complaint, which must be uniform throughout the State and must be issued in books with summonses in no less than quadruplicate and meeting the requirements of this chapter. The Uniform Summons and Complaint must include, at a minimum, the signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense and the time, place and date the person is to appear in court. The Uniform Summons and Complaint must also include a statement that signing the summons does not constitute an admission or plea of guilty and that refusal to sign after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer is a separate Class E crime. A person to whom a Uniform Summons and Complaint is issued or delivered must give a written promise to appear. The form of the Uniform Summons and Complaint must be approved by the Chief Judge of the District Court prior to its use.
[PL 2013, c. 482, §6 (AMD).]
Attorney's Note
Under the Maine Revised Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class E crime | up to 6 months | up to $1,000 |
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 2601
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Bureau: means the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Department: means the Department of Transportation. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Law enforcement officer: means a person who by virtue of public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for crimes, whether that duty extends to all crimes or is limited to specific crimes. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- License: includes , but is not limited to, a nonresident operating privilege and the privilege of a person to apply for or obtain a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Person: means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, fiduciary, trust, estate or any other legal or commercial entity. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Registration: means the registration certificate, plates and renewal devices pertaining to the registration of a vehicle, including temporary registered gross weight increases. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, bicycles and other conveyances either singly or together using public way for travel. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Traffic infraction: means any violation of any provision of this Title, or of any rules established under this Title, not expressly defined as a crime or as a civil violation and otherwise not punishable by incarceration. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Vehicle: means a device for conveyance of persons or property on a way. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A Sec. 101
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
2. Creation of forms. The Commissioner of Public Safety is responsible for creating the forms of Uniform Summons and Complaint, subject to the approval of the forms by the Chief Judge of the District Court.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
3. Form of Violation Summons and Complaint. Every law enforcement agency in this State shall use traffic summonses for traffic infractions in the form known as the Violation Summons and Complaint, which must be uniform throughout the State and must be issued in books with summonses in no less than quadruplicate and meeting the requirements of this chapter. The form must include, at a minimum, the signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense and the date on or before which the person is to file a written answer with the violations bureau. The Violation Summons and Complaint must also include a statement that signing the summons does not constitute an admission or plea of guilty and that refusal to sign after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer is a separate Class E crime. The form of the Violation Summons and Complaint must be approved by the Chief Judge of the District Court prior to its use.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
3-A. Electronic Violation Summons and Complaint. Notwithstanding subsection 3, the Chief Judge of the District Court may approve for use an electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form. The electronic Violation Summons and Complaint form must include, at a minimum, an electronic or digital signature of the officer, a brief description of the alleged offense, the time and place of the alleged offense and the date on or before which the person is to file a written answer with the violations bureau. Personally identifying information that is contained in the electronic citation or the electronic warning database maintained, administered or contributed to by the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police is confidential, except that personally identifying information that is contained in these databases may be shared with another criminal justice agency, delivered to the person under subsection 7 and transmitted to the violations bureau as required by subsection 9. For the purposes of this subsection, “personally identifying information” means an individual’s name, residential and post office mailing addresses, date of birth and driver’s license number, a vehicle registration plate number and any other information contained in a data field that may be used to identify a person.
[PL 2023, c. 55, §1 (AMD).]
4. Responsibility for issuance and disposition. The summons and complaint forms must be printed and distributed as follows.
A. The District Court is responsible for printing all copies of the Violation Summons and Complaint forms. The Department of Public Safety is responsible for printing all copies of the Uniform Summons and Complaint forms and issuing both types to law enforcement agencies or others. [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
B. The chief executive officer of every law enforcement agency or that chief executive officer’s designee is responsible for the further issuance of summons and complaint forms to individual law enforcement officers and for the proper disposition of those forms. [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
5. Illegal disposition. It is unlawful and official misconduct for any law enforcement officer or other officer or public employee to dispose of a Violation Summons and Complaint or a Uniform Summons and Complaint or any portion of either or of the record of the issuance of a Violation Summons and Complaint or a Uniform Summons and Complaint in a manner other than as required under rules adopted pursuant to this section. Any person who solicits or aids in the disposition or attempted disposition of a Violation Summons and Complaint or a Uniform Summons and Complaint or any portion of either in any unauthorized manner commits a Class E crime.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
6. Uniform Summons and Complaint as summons. A Uniform Summons and Complaint, when issued or delivered to a person by a law enforcement officer or served on the person in the manner prescribed by rule of the Supreme Judicial Court, acts as a summons to appear in court on the date and time specified in the summons or to otherwise respond in accordance with law on or before the date and time specified in the summons. Any person who fails to appear in court as directed by the summons or to otherwise respond in accordance with law on or before the date and time specified in the summons commits a Class E crime. Upon the person’s failure to appear or respond, the court may issue a warrant of arrest. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this subsection that the failure to appear or respond resulted from just cause.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
7. Violation Summons and Complaint as summons. The Violation Summons and Complaint, when issued or delivered to a person by a law enforcement officer or served on the person in the manner prescribed by rule of the Supreme Judicial Court, acts as an order to file written answer to the complaint on or before the date specified in the summons.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
8. When a lawful complaint. If the Uniform Summons and Complaint is duly sworn to as required by law and otherwise legally sufficient in respect to the form of a complaint and to charging commission of the offense alleged in the summons to have been committed, then the summons when filed with a court having jurisdiction constitutes a lawful complaint for the purpose of the commencement of any prosecution of a civil violation under this Title or a misdemeanor or Class D or Class E crime under Title 23, section 1980 or this Title. When filed with the violations bureau, the Violation Summons and Complaint is considered a lawful complaint for the purpose of the commencement of a traffic infraction proceeding.
[PL 2013, c. 482, §7 (AMD).]
9. Responsibility of law enforcement officer to file summonses and complaints with District Court. A law enforcement officer issuing a Violation Summons and Complaint charging the commission of a traffic infraction shall file the original of the Violation Summons and Complaint with the violations bureau within 5 days of the issuance of the Violation Summons and Complaint. A law enforcement officer issuing a Uniform Summons and Complaint that charges the commission of an offense shall file the original of the Uniform Summons and Complaint with the District Court having jurisdiction over the offense or in such other location as instructed by the Chief Judge of the District Court without undue delay and, in any event, within 5 days after the issuance of the Uniform Summons and Complaint.
[PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]
10. Refusal to sign. A person who refuses to sign a Uniform Summons and Complaint or a Violation Summons and Complaint after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer commits a Class E crime. A law enforcement officer may not order a person to sign the Uniform Summons and Complaint for a civil violation unless the civil violation is an offense defined in Title 12; Title 28?A, section 2052; or this Title. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the venue for a violation of this subsection is the same judicial division as for the Uniform Summons and Complaint or Violation Summons and Complaint that the person refuses to sign.
[PL 1997, c. 653, §12 (AMD).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1993, c. 683, §A2 (NEW). PL 1993, c. 683, §B5 (AFF). PL 1997, c. 653, §12 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 112, §9 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 482, §§6, 7 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 55, §1 (AMD).