Maine Revised Statutes Title 12. Conservation § 6208. Marine resources' citation form

1. Form. The commissioner shall designate the Uniform Summons and Complaint as the citation form to be used by the Bureau of Marine Patrol, except that the commissioner may permit the use of any citation forms approved by the Chief Judge of the District Court before May 1, 1991 that are in current stock as of May 1, 1991 until those stocks are depleted.

2. Responsibility for issuance and disposition. Responsibility for issuance and disposition is as follows.

3. Illegal disposition; prohibited act. It is unlawful and official misconduct for any marine patrol officer or other public employee to dispose of an official citation form or Uniform Summons and Complaint, except in accordance with law and as provided for in any applicable official policy or procedure of the Bureau of Marine Patrol.

4. When a lawful complaint. If the citation provided for in this section or a 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 charging an offense, it may be filed in a court having jurisdiction and constitutes a lawful complaint for the purpose of the commencement of any criminal prosecution or civil violation proceeding.

5. When a lawful summons. A citation as provided for in this section or a Uniform Summons and Complaint, when served upon a person by a law enforcement officer, acts as a summons to appear in court or to otherwise respond in accordance with law on or before the date 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 specified in the summons commits a Class E crime. Upon that person's failure to appear or to respond in accordance with law, the court may issue a warrant of arrest. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this subsection that the failure to appear or to respond resulted from just cause.

6. Refusal to sign; prohibited act. Any person who refuses to sign a citation or Uniform Summons and Complaint after having been ordered to do so by a law enforcement officer commits a Class E crime.