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Penobscot County Commissioner Andre Cushing may be unable to participate in discussions and votes about the new jail proposal after accepting a free trip from two companies that could build the facility.
Cushing traveled to Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday to tour manufacturing facilities that make modular jail cells. The trip was paid for by Titan Steel Doors, the manufacturer, and DCCM, an engineering consultant company, Cushing said.
Because those companies are being considered as vendors for building the new county jail, Cushing “will have to consider recusing myself” from future votes on the facility because accepting the gift could be seen as a conflict of interest, he said.
Cushing’s paid trip comes during Penobscot County’s multi-year effort to build a new county jail and now puts a more than $80-million decision meant to help the county ends its reliance on boarding out inmates and claw its way out of a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall in the hands of just two commissioners.
It’s unclear what discussions or votes Cushing may have to be excluded from, and the county’s lawyer will be included in those decisions, he said. Cushing said the trip was worth that risk so that someone in Penobscot County would have a better understanding of what they were spending funds on.
“If I can’t vote on it or have discussions, fine. But I think reporting back to [other officials and residents] on what we have found will provide some valuable information,” Cushing said. “I’m not comfortable spending the type of taxpayer money that we have to without having some direct knowledge of what these companies are going to do.”
DCCM, an engineering consultant company that uses the products Cushing saw on his tour, is already involved in the engineering process of the Penobscot County Jail and paid for part of the trip, he said.
Cushing has previously been cited for and accused of ethics violations. The former state senator stepped down as assistant Maine Senate majority leader in 2017 due to violations related to campaign finances and in 2023 did not recuse himself from a commissioners vote that gave a contract to his associate.
Somerset County Administrator Tim Curtis, Androscoggin County Administrator Jeff Chute and representatives from South Carolina and Texas, where jails are being built, were also on the tour, Cushing said. An official from Aroostook County was invited to come but could not attend, he said.
Penobscot County’s most recent plan for a new jail is to build a 258-bed facility in Hampden that could cost up to $84 million.
County Commissioners Cushing, Dan Tremble and Dave Marshall have not voted on a vendor for the facility yet, but Marshall said he’s confident he and Tremble can have an informed vote if Cushing has to recuse himself.
“We’re all fiscal conservatives. So we’re going to do what’s best for the county. I don’t have any reservations about us being able to come to a conclusion,” Marshall, chair of the commissioners, said.
If Tremble and Marshall disagree and tie when voting, the motion would not carry.
Tremble did not respond to a request for comment.
A location for the jail needs to be determined before a vendor can be chosen.
Penobscot County residents will decide in November whether the county jail can be moved to a site in Hampden. If it’s approved, commissioners will then vote on a vendor for the facility, Cushing said. If it fails, they will have to change their plans.
While on the tour, which Cushing said showed him how the doors are made with less waste and faster than other options, Cushing was asked if he was ready to “move forward with the design contract.” He said no because of the unknown of November’s vote, Cushing said.
Cushing is personally ready to move forward with the company and design, he said.
It’s not certain that DCCM will be chosen to build the new Penobscot County Jail. There will likely be multiple vendors that respond to the county’s request for proposal.
For now, the commissioners are focused on the November vote, Marshall said.
“We’ll look at those [proposals], evaluate those and then render a decision. But that’s down the road a bit,” Marshall said.