AUGUSTA – Maine spends less per capita on its criminal justice system than almost every state, but it also has nearly the lowest crime rate. That could change, however, if the state does not recognize changing trends and shifts its spending priorities, say several experts.

“I think one reason we spend so little is that we do have a low crime rate,” said professor Richard Ayer, chairman of the criminal justice program at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. “That is good, but I think we do need to spend more resources on prevention of crime, and those sort of expenditures can be very cost-efficient.”

Maine ranks 48th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the latest analysis of criminal justice expenditures released earlier this week by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The local and state costs of providing police, courts and jails are $442 for every man, woman and child in the United States. In Maine, the per capita cost was $257 in 1999, the last year for which data are available.

Ayer said Maine, like most states, does not invest very much in prevention programs. He said study after study has indicated that relatively small investments in programs that help prevent crime save taxpayers a lot of money in the long run.

“When you look at what it costs to keep one prisoner for a year, prevention looks pretty good,” he said. “And by prevention I mean programs aimed at keeping young offenders from offending again. We have a serious problem with rural drug abuse, and we are not doing enough to treat those offenders before they are released.”

The Department of Corrections estimates it costs $62,000 a year to pay for all of the costs of keeping an inmate locked up in one of the state’s correctional facilities.

Ayer said simply locking up a person who has stolen money to pay for OxyContin does not solve any of the problems that led to the drug addiction. He said the rural areas of the state are least equipped to provide the drug abuse treatment needed to help abusers shake their addiction before they leave the county jails or state prisons.

Steven Barkan, chairman of the Sociology Department at the University of Maine, agrees the rural drug abuse problem is a serious challenge to the state’s criminal justice system, but he said it is not the only challenge.

“There is the demographic issue that is facing corrections across the country,” he said. “We are all getting older, including those individuals we have locked up in our prisons.”

Barkan said policymakers should consider alternatives to expensive maximum-security cells for older inmates with health problems who pose little risk to society.

Deputy Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord said the state is looking at alternatives.

“Part of the governor’s bond package will address the need we see for additional beds attached to the infirmary at Windham. Major problems that we face with older inmates are health issues and making sure we provide adequate health care.”

As part of a $117 million bond package introduced Thursday, Gov. Angus King is proposing an $11.1 million package of improvements to the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. Voters will be asked to approve that borrowing in a referendum in either June or November.

Lord said there also are several other programs, such as the Maine Mentoring program, which are aimed at intervening early in a child’s development. She said many are school-based and others are offered through the Department of Human Services and the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.

“I think Maine is actually doing quite a bit,” Lord said. “We certainly could do more, but I think we are trying.”

Rep. Edward Povich, D-Ellsworth and co-chairman of the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee, said he agreed with Lord that Maine is addressing the problems, but could be doing more. He said he was not surprised that Maine’s spending ranked low compared to most of the nation.

“I don’t see these figures as alarming at all,” he said. “Our crime rate is under control and we are in a very safe state.”

Povich said lawmakers have started to focus on the problems cited by criminologists. He said last session a new drug agent was added to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and assigned to Washington County, where the number of cases related to OxyContin abuse have skyrocketed in the last year.

“I think as we identify these problems the Legislature will address these problems,” he said.

But Sen. Michael McAlevey, R-Waterboro and Senate co-chairman of the panel, said the Legislature has not been doing enough to address the emerging problems in corrections and law enforcement.

“Adding one agent is not enough,” he said. “We have far fewer MDEA agents now than we did ten years ago. We need more law enforcement, but we also need more prevention programs and drug treatment programs.”

McAlevey said he agreed with the expansion of facilities at Windham to help deal with older prisoners’ health problems, but he said it may not be enough.

“I think we should be spending more on our criminal justice system,” he said. “But it is a hard sell politically. There is not much of a constituency for the [criminal justice] system, like there is for social service programs.”