The Bangor Daily News was the first to report this story. What you’re reading here would likely not be made public without the efforts of professional journalists asking questions, interviewing sources and obtaining documents.
Aroostook County is in the midst of a search for land to locate a new jail, but that jail will not be built on municipal land in its biggest city.
The Presque Isle City Council declined to submit any city-owned land for consideration in response to a request from the county last month, according to an undated letter sent by City Manager Sonja Eyler to county leaders that the Bangor Daily News obtained.
“Following substantial discussion, the Council determined that the City does not have a suitable parcel capable of accommodating the proposed jail facility,” Eyler wrote in the letter.
The council’s decision has not previously been made public. It was made following a Sept. 21 executive session. The council met in mid-September to discuss the possibility of locating the jail in Presque Isle.
The jail could still be built on privately-owned land in the city. The owner of a 54.43 acre former mobile home park along Route 1 near the Caribou town line made the property available to the county for $1.3 million. The lot has been on the market since late June and is currently listed for $1.95 million.
Aroostook County has been evaluating how to replace its current jail for several years. The existing facility, situated in downtown Houlton, was built in 1889 and last renovated more than 40 years ago. Federal corrections experts called the building overcrowded and unsafe during a visit in 2024, and a jail commission has been studying options for the facility since 2023.
A 2025 needs assessment compiled by a consulting group recommended two potential locations for the new jail: in Houlton or in the vicinity of Presque Isle and Caribou, more central to The County’s population centers.
The report concluded that population shifts have made the existing jail’s location “less than ideal.” The jail was originally built in Houlton because of a former statutory requirement for the facilities to be in the county seat, but that puts it at least a two-hour drive away from many towns in the St. John Valley.
“There were indications from some agencies located to the north that a number of arrests are regularly not made in an effort to reduce trips to the current jail,” the report noted.
While Presque Isle will not house the next jail on city property, its City Council “unanimously supports locating the jail in central Aroostook. We urge the County to give substantial weight to the operational and logistical value of a central location as it evaluates proposals,” Eyler wrote.
“This is not simply a question of convenience or community preference. It is a practical public safety and service delivery consideration,” Eyler added. “A central Aroostook location has the potential to reduce transportation time and expense, improve law enforcement capacity across a large rural county, and create a facility that is more accessible to the people and systems it must serve.
The council is “prepared” to support another central Aroostook community that has a suitable location for the jail, Eyler said.
The consultant who conducted the needs assessment estimated last summer that the price tag to construct the jail could range from $91 million to $112 million, depending on its size, but construction costs have risen since.
A bond referendum to fund construction of the facility could come before voters as early as next year. If the selected land is outside of Houlton, that will also have to be approved at referendum.
Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly ruled out Presque Isle as a possible location for the new jail.