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Specialized Courts

PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS:

  • ADULT & JUVENILE DRUG TREAMENT COURTS provide comprehensive monitoring and treatment referral to enable recovery from the substance abuse that is a factor in many of the crimes committed.
  • FAMILY DRUG TREATMENT COURTS actively work with families in child protective proceedings when substance abuse is a primary problem.
  • CO-OCCURING DISORDERS COURT operates in Augusta, working with defendants with the most challenging mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. All who are admitted to the Court have pled guilty to a serious crime and have a past history of frequent incarceration.

FOCUS COURTS WITHIN THE DISTRICT COURT:

  • The FAMILY DIVISION’S mission is to “provide a system of justice that is responsive to the needs of families and the support of their children.” The Family Division promotes an accessible and timely court process for families in transition, emphasizing mediation and case management while increasing support services in the community. The Family Division is an administrative unit within the Judicial Branch, established to "work with the District Courts to monitor" specific Court dockets impacting Maine’s children and families, including CHILD PROTECTION, FAMILY/DIVORCE, PROTECTION FROM ABUSE, and JUVENILE cases.
  • SMALL CLAIMS COURT operates within the District Court, offering a simpler forum, that includes mediation, for cases with claims of $4,500 or less.
  • THE MAINE JUDICIAL BRANCH VIOLATIONS BUREAU, located in Lewiston, is the centralized operation that processes all of TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS that are issued throughout the state.

SPECIAL DOCKET OPEN TO ALL TRIAL COURTS:

  • The BUSINESS and CONSUMER COURT, also known as the Business and Consumer Docket (BCD), is designed to handle selected business and consumer cases that require specialized and differentiated judicial management.

SPECIAL DOCKET IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY:

  • The Unified Criminal Docket, also known as the UCD, is a single county pilot project that turned a two-tiered system into a single efficient process for for processing criminal actions and certain associated civil violation actions.