ROCKLAND, Maine — Lack of state funding, lack of staff and the expense of looming major repairs have prompted Knox County officials to consider whether to close its 70-bed jail or to revamp its mission.
One of the leading options being eyed by county officials involves using the jail only for suspects being held no more than 72 hours as they await initial bail hearings. In order to save most of the 40 jobs that could be lost, the sheriff also has suggested that the jail could be converted to a re-entry center for minimum security female offenders.
The correctional administrator for the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset said Wednesday that he has been in conversations with Knox County officials and is confident that operating the facility as a four-county jail would offer many benefits. Two Bridges currently houses inmates from Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties and contracts with Waldo County.
Roger Moody, chairman of the Knox County Commissioners, said Monday that until the commission sees more financial figures and gets more information it is uncertain what choice will be made. He said he would like to see a decision made by July 1.
Sheriff Donna Dennison said the jail needs major repairs, with one problem being the replacement of the security and control system that operates doors and cameras. The estimated cost of that project alone is $772,000, according to SMRT Architects and Engineers. The sheriff said corrections officers have to use keys to individually lock and unlock many of the doors and are not able to control cameras from the control room.
The sheriff said the county does not have the money for such expensive repairs without exceeding a state cap on spending for the jail. Moody agreed with that assessment.
“This is just not sustainable,” Moody said, pointing out that future state funding for jails is uncertain.
Knox County is not alone with its jail budget predicament. In total, the state’s 15 county jails cost about $80 million a year to operate and under current law, counties can raise no more than $62.5 million from property taxpayers to cover those costs.
At a meeting of the Knox County commissioners earlier this month, Moody said some relief for one year was possible when the Legislature approved $2.4 million in additional funding for county jails across the state. Since then, however, Gov. Paul LePage vetoed LD 1614, saying the one-year funding proposal represented a short-term fix for cash-strapped county jails, which are supported with a mix of state allocations and money raised from property taxes.
“If the counties are responsible for operating the jails, the counties should also be responsible for paying the cost of jails,” LePage wrote in his veto letter.
The current system caps what counties can spend on jail operation, which LePage said creates an unfair burden on state taxpayers. County budgets are prevented from growing more than 3 percent per year under state law.
The cost of operating the Knox County Jail is about $3 million annually. The jail is licensed by the state to hold 70 inmates but often houses 80 to 90 people, the sheriff said.
The jail employs about 40 people, but the sheriff said it is extremely difficult to find enough corrections officers and that those employees are being mandated to work overtime. The problem is a statewide one, she said.
“They’re almost living here,” the sheriff said about the amount of overtime that corrections officers have to work.
If the county were to handle only suspects awaiting bail hearings, the other inmates would be transferred to another jail — most likely the Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset. Knox County officials have had discussions on a regional approach to housing inmates with officials from Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Waldo counties.
Knox County would pay Two Bridges to house its inmates, who would have their arraignments handled via video at the courthouse in Rockland.
If the Knox jail held people only for up to 72 hours, most current staffers would lose their jobs, Dennison said. But, the sheriff suggested that creating a re-entry center for women at the jail would allow most employees to keep their jobs.
And a re-entry center would provide a needed social benefit, Dennison said. She said there are too many young women who are facing drug addiction, which leads to criminal convictions. Those mothers are giving birth to babies who are addicted, she said. The women could be offered counseling, treatment and other services at a re-entry facility, the sheriff said.
Last year, officials at Two Bridges said they would no longer accept inmates from outside their counties unless they had a contract and received reimbursement.
Two Bridges Corrections Administrator Mark Westrum said Wednesday that the jail’s officials are in discussions with Knox County.
“We are very interested in any future partnership, and would welcome a contract with Knox similar to the one that we have with Waldo County. It is my firm belief having been at this game for a couple years…. That when I look at the combined four county tax caps of approximately $11.3 million for the operation of jails, community corrections and transport for the sixth district that through a four-county partnership we could create a correction system that would provide a better service for our inmates, families and community public safety, enhanced training and pay for our officers, and less reliance on those in the executive and legislative branch that don’t get it by utilizing our own monies without having to raise the tax caps anytime soon.”