In the past five years, Maine Commission on Public Defense Services has provided counsel for over 28,000 charges related to violating conditions of release and spent over $1.7 million on defense attorneys for those cases. (Stock photo by Greenleaf123/Getty Images)
The most common criminal charge filed against a defendant in Maine courts may not even be for a crime. If someone out on bail violates their conditions of release, they can incur a wholly separate charge — adding to the burden placed on Maine’s public defenders, which are already in short supply.
A bill introduced by Rep. David Sinclair, an attorney from Bath, would remove this charge from the bail code, which he believes would help alleviate the state’s indigent defense system, under which hundreds are currently being deprived their Sixth Amendment right to court-appointed council.
Maine is one of six states that charges people with a separate crime for violating their conditions of release, known as VCR. This is typically a Class E crime, which is the least serious within the classification system, which ranges from A-E. Class E VCR crimes are by far the most common charges against defendants in Maine courts, according to statewide data. They are punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Maine’s current law is an example of excessive punishment, according to Abbe Smith, a Georgetown University law professor and director of the Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic.
“We live in a time of mass incarceration and over-criminalization, and I hate to be on a soapbox, but this is a perfect example of a charge that’s just not necessary,” said Smith.
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During a public hearing before the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Monday, several public defenders and defense attorneys testified in support of the bill, saying the change could help address the state’s critical lack of court-appointed lawyers. Law enforcement officials and prosecutors generally opposed the proposal, arguing that the Class E VCR charge is an important tool to hold people accountable and is especially critical when prosecuting domestic violence cases.
Domestic violence advocates who addressed members of the committee said Sinclair’s proposal has some benefits, but needs to be changed to retain protections for domestic violence survivors.
Smith told Maine Morning Star that VCR seems to be an overused enforcement tool in Maine and that Sinclair’s bill would provide a novel solution to the state’s critical shortage of public defenders.
“I think it’s a kind of a smart workaround, because it sounds to me like there’s excessive reliance on bringing the charge of violating conditions of release instead of other approaches,” Smith said.
In 2024 alone, there were over 5,400 VCR charges filed in Maine courts, according to Frayla Tarpinian, a former prosecutor who oversees Maine’s first brick-and-mortar public defender office. To compare, the second most common type of charge was 662 cases of drug possession, she said.
In the past five years, Maine Commission on Public Defense Services has provided counsel for over 28,000 VCR charges and spent over $1.7 million on defense attorneys for those cases.
Sometimes the attorney who is handling the case that put the defendant on bail in the first place will take on the additional VCR case, Sinclair said. Sometimes they won’t, and occasionally — even if they are willing —they won’t be able to, because of caseload limits on public defenders in Maine, he explained. “So there are a lot of potential gains here, in terms of lightening the court’s criminal docket, lightening the burden on public defender services, and, frankly, also lightening the burden on the prosecutorial offices,” Sinclair said. “The initiation of a whole separate case: That’s the redundancy the bill looks to eliminate.”
Judges also have the option to revoke bail for anyone who violates their condition of release, according to Smith and several other defense attorneys who testified at the hearing.
However, Shayra Burns from the Maine Prosecutors Association argued that revocation of bail is inadequate to address offenders who repeatedly violate their bail agreements, which make up the majority of VCR cases. And Shane Stephenson from the Maine Association of Police said it would be unsafe for Maine to follow other states that have relaxed their bail codes by passing this bill.
“The concept of protecting the greater public at the expense of the person committing an offense is almost no longer a consideration,” he said. “Please know that repealing this section that is a critical tool for law enforcement is not safe for citizens. It’s not safe for the officers, and it’s not safe for the offenders either.”
Domestic violence advocates propose amendments
Bethany McInnis, a nurse practitioner from Oxford County, said her ex-husband had several times violated his conditions of release in addition to the protection of abuse order due to contacting her and her children. McInnis told committee members that she relies on these enforcement mechanisms to feel safe.
“We are not safe from our abusers when they are violating these [conditions] if you do not consider them crimes,” McInnis said. “Passage of this bill will only increase the dangers for this victim, as well as the first responders and the general public.”
Andrea Mancuso, of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, suggested amending the legislation to retain protections for domestic violence victims, such as requiring no contact and restricting access to weapons in the conditions of release.
Not enforcing release agreements for those charged with domestic violence will send a message that it’s ok to violate these conditions, taking away the sense of security they provide to the victim, Mancuso testified.“To remove the ability of the criminal legal system to respond swiftly and with real consequence in these situations…it’s a violation of our system’s basic responsibility that we have to these crime victims,” Mancuso said.
The coalition’s suggested amendment would allow someone to be charged with a Class E crime if the VCR included contact with the victim, proximity to their workplace or home, or retaining possession of a weapon.
Of the thousands of VCR charges over the past year, only about 10% — or approximately 500 charges — were violations of a no-contact order. That means the bill will still have its desired effect in lowering VCR charges while retaining protections for domestic violence survivors, Mancuso said.
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