Me. Rev. Stat. » Title 15
Maine Revised Statutes

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 15, § 708 (2026)

Preparation of complaints

✓ current as of May 2026
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The clerk may, in the absence or unavailability of a justice of the peace or of a prosecuting attorney or any of the justice of the peace's or prosecuting attorney's assistants, prepare and draft complaints upon the request of any law enforcement officer, except that a complaint may not issue to any person who is not a law enforcement officer or for any criminal homicide or Class A, B or C crime unless approved by the district attorney or the district attorney's designee or the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee.   [RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. D, §49 (COR).]
Except in prosecutions instituted by the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee, the district attorney or the district attorney's designee shall, whenever practical, prepare all complaints for criminal homicide and Class A, B and C crimes and for all complainants who are not law enforcement officers. A complaint may not be filed nor process issued until such time as the complainant has made oath to the complaint or process before the proper official.   [RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. D, §49 (COR).]
Each district attorney shall establish written guidelines for the approval of issuance of complaints pursuant to this section. In those guidelines, the district attorney may extend the above procedure to Class D and E crimes, as long as the approval of the district attorney is not necessary for any complaint issued with the approval of the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee.   [RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. D, §49 (COR).]
Whenever a complaint is not approved for prosecution by the district attorney or the district attorney's designee or the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee, the district attorney or the district attorney's designee or the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee shall, if requested, inform the complainant, orally or in writing, of the reasons the complaint was not approved.   [RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. D, §49 (COR).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1969, c. 504, §§24-I (NEW). PL 1973, c. 567, §20 (AMD). PL 1977, c. 579, §E1 (RPR). PL 1987, c. 736, §25 (AMD). RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. D, §49 (COR).
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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1978–2008 · leading case: Santoni v. Potter, 222 F. Supp. 2d 14 (D. Me. 2002).
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Santoni v. Potter, 222 F. Supp. 2d 14 (D. Me. 2002). · cites it 2× “” 15 M.R.S.A. § 708. Although the term “law enforcement officer” is not defined for purposes of Title 15, the phrase “any law enforcement officer” appears broad enough to encompass federal law enforcement officers such as postal inspectors.”
State v. Thurston, 393 A.2d 1345 (Me. 1978). “” (emphasis supplied) Moreover, by virtue of 15 M.R.S.A. § 708, which expresses a legislatively determined public policy favoring the exercise of prosecutorial discretion before a prosecution is undertaken, “no complaint shall issue .”
Piascik v. Marden (Me. Super. Ct 2008). “" This being said, compliance with the statutory requirements for a complaint is still required and the District Attorney or the Attorney General pursuant to 15 M.R.S. § 708 must approve the criminal complaint for prosecution.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.