As Aroostook County municipalities make their case in support of hosting a new jail, Houlton officials are arguing that constructing the correctional facility in town would cut costs, maintain jail staff and eliminate one referendum that would otherwise be a part of the process.
What the decision costs Aroostook County taxpayers is more important than the ground on which it’s built, said Houlton Interim Town Manager Nancy Ketch.
Earlier this month, the county issued a request for land proposals to house a new multimillion-dollar correctional facility designed to replace the Houlton jail, which has served The County for 140 years. As the Sept. 28 deadline nears, Houlton and Presque Isle officials have expressed interest in hosting the new facility.
Securing a location is the next step in a several-year process that began with a 2025 needs assessment, which analyzed the existing jail, law enforcement and community needs. The price tag could reach $112 million, depending on location, the report said.
The county stipulated a parcel of at least 15 relatively level acres within 15 miles of Route 1 between Hodgdon and Caribou. The proposed land must have access to municipal water and sewer, three-phase power and high-speed internet, with a paved municipal road or state highway leading into the property.
SMRT Architects & Engineers, which the county hired this spring, will review proposals and decide on a location, according to the county.
Last week Presque Isle leaders expressed interest in submitting a land proposal to the county by the deadline. The Presque Isle City Council voted in a special meeting to create a land parcel review team tasked with submitting costs and recommendations for council approval.
The city hasn’t yet committed to anything, City Manager Sonja Eyler said during the meeting.
“The central question is whether a specific proposal advances public safety and regional access without shifting unfunded costs or shifting Presque Isle’s development priorities,” Eyler said.
Houlton will be submitting a proposal, but Ketch did not disclose a location. A special Town Council meeting will take place Tuesday regarding the matter.
Presque Isle making a case for itself is legitimate, because the jail is a countywide facility and every community has a right to want it, Ketch said.
“The concern behind their case is also real,” she said. “Two-thirds of bookings originate north of Houlton, and the drive is a genuine burden on those departments. Our view is that the answer costs a great deal less than a bigger building.”
Scheduled transport runs, expanded video arraignments and remote bail review, as recommended by the county’s consultant, would address most of those concerns directly, Ketch said.
“What they (new digital tools) do not require is asking county taxpayers to fund 71 additional beds and win an additional countywide election to get there,” she said.
Funding for construction will likely be raised through bonds, which would require a referendum vote, according to the project’s architect. Additionally, if the county decides to move the jail out of Houlton, the County seat, state law requires an additional referendum vote, potentially delaying or halting construction.
“Aroostook County has needed a new jail for years. Every additional election is another chance it does not get built,” Ketch said.
The 2025 needs assessment from Justice Planners modeled a Houlton facility at 158 beds and 99,000 square feet, with a total estimated project cost of $91 million. It modeled a facility in the Presque Isle or Caribou area at 229 beds and just under 122,000 square feet, at $112 million.
The size and overall cost would be roughly 23% higher in Presque Isle/Caribou, but the per-bed cost would be lower there — roughly $489,000 compared with $576,000 in Houlton.
Ketch said critical utility savings would result if the jail remains in Houlton.
A jail runs 24 hours a day and Houlton is served by the Houlton Water Company, a consumer-owned municipal utility that provides water, sewer and electricity. Its residential rates run about 14.8 cents a kilowatt hour against roughly 28.9 cents in Versant Power’s Maine Public District, which covers the central county, she said.
Town officials are analyzing commercial rates, but Houlton’s consumer-owned utility prices are “a long way below” other companies, she said.
Despite the Houlton jail’s age, Justice Planners called it “exceptionally clean and well-maintained, surpassing many facilities that are only five or six years old.” They also noted that the staff are highly professional, contributing to the jail’s sustained operation.
The analysis reported that 78% of the corrections staff already live in the Houlton area. That’s another reason the new jail should remain in town, according to Ketch and Town Councilor Fred Grant.
The analysis pointed out a new facility would require 59 officers if built in Presque Isle and 56 if built in Houlton.
Corrections staffing is a challenge, Ketch said.
“So this is not an argument that a jail up north needs more people.” she said. “It is an argument about whether the County opens its new jail with its trained officers still on the payroll, or spends the next decade backfilling vacancies with overtime.”
Beyond that, the justice system the jail depends on is already in Houlton and already working, she said.
“The courthouse, the sheriff’s office, the state police barracks, Border Patrol’s Houlton Sector headquarters, Houlton Regional Hospital, the Houlton Police Department, fire and ambulance — a jail does not operate alone,” Ketch said. “And none of that moves with the building.”
