SJC invites comments on proposed amendments to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure regarding prosecutors' oaths on complaints and warrant requests outside the warrant issuer's presence. Comments due by March 25, 2025

Date: 3/11/2025

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court invites comments on proposed amendments to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure that would (1) amend Rule 3 to clarify the nature of the oath required by 15 M.R.S. § 708 in anticipation of electronic filing of criminal complaints by prosecutors and (2) amend Rule 4 to provide a procedure for arrest warrant requests made outside the presence of the court or justice of the peace.

The proposed amendments are available at the link below.

Any comments must be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Comments may be in writing, mailed to the address below, or in an email sent to lawcourt.clerk@courts.maine.gov. If the comments are in an attachment to the email, the attachment must be a document in native (text-based and not scanned) portable document format (.pdf). The Clerks Office will acknowledge receipt of the email via reply email.

All comments must contain (1) the name and mailing address of the individual submitting the comments and (2) the name, mailing address, and primary telephone number of the organization (if any) on whose behalf the comments are submitted. An individual need not be an attorney to submit comments individually or on behalf of an organization.

Comments are public documents and may be posted on the Courts website.

Dated: March 11, 2025

Matthew Pollack
Executive Clerk
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
205 Newbury Street Room 139
Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 822-4146

Supporting documents

Proposed amendments

PDF version of this notice