What an expired-registration ticket costs in Maine

Can it be dismissed?

Yes, and the clerk must dismiss it if you renew in time. 29-A M.R.S. §351(1) says a person charged may have the complaint dismissed by showing satisfactory evidence of registration that was in effect at the time of the stop, or that the person registered the vehicle before the date required for filing an answer. The clerk of the Violations Bureau “must dismiss the complaint” if, before that answer date, you file a copy of the Violation Summons and Complaint with the bureau together with satisfactory evidence of registration. If you instead file a timely answer and present satisfactory evidence of registration at trial, “the court must dismiss the complaint.” The statute does not define satisfactory evidence, and its trial sentence does not say whether a renewal made after the answer date counts. The Judicial Branch’s general Contest a Ticket page is narrower still: it says registration proof must show it was in effect at the date and time of the alleged violation, and it does not mention the statute’s renew-before-the-answer-date path. So the safe route is to renew and send the bureau a copy of the ticket with your new registration before the answer date printed on the ticket (Rule 80F(d)(1) sets 20 days after service), to the Violations Bureau, P.O. Box 480, Lewiston, ME 04243-0480; do not count on a renewal made after that date. Do not pay first: the scheduled amount is accepted with an answer of “not contested,” after which the clerk assesses the fine (Rule 80F(d)(4)).

What happens beyond the fine

The ticket itself carries no suspension; ignoring it does. You must answer in writing within 20 days after the ticket is served (Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80F(d)(1)), and the ticket shows the date. To pay the scheduled amount, the Violations Bureau’s schedule says the not-contested answer must be filed within 35 days of service. If you do not answer within 20 days, or answer “not contested” but do not pay in full, the bureau mails a notice that unless the fine is paid in full within 30 days your right to drive in Maine will be suspended, and if it is not paid the suspension takes effect and the Secretary of State is notified (Rule 80F(l)(1)). If you have not responded within 35 days, the bureau enters a default judgment and imposes the scheduled fine (Rule 80F(k)(1)). The Judicial Branch says that once suspended you must pay an additional $50 late fee for each violation, plus a reinstatement fee to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. If you contest and lose, the fine is due within 30 days unless the judge sets another date, with the same suspension if it is not paid (Rule 80F(g)). At the roadside, an officer who stops a vehicle whose registration has been expired more than 30 days may write a permit to drive it home or to a BMV office to renew (§351(3-A)).