Sagadahoc County may move inmates to Portland

PORTLAND – Sagadahoc County will consider housing inmates at the Cumberland County Jail because state officials have said it must move them from the overcrowded jail in Kennebec County.

The Maine Department of Corrections gave Sagadahoc officials an ultimatum last week: Either find 35 empty beds at various county jails around the state, or find a way to house the inmates in a vacant 60-bed pod of the Cumberland County facility.

The state decided to intervene after a recent suicide at Kennebec County Jail, where overcrowding has existed for 18 months.

Sagadahoc County is Maine’s only county without its own jail, and officials said housing its inmates in multiple facilities would be impractical.

That would leave the Cumberland County option, which is costly.

Sagadahoc would have to hire up to eight guards and supervisors at an annual cost estimated at $293,000 to $345,000, said Ralph Nichols of the state corrections department.

Cumberland County officials said they would be willing to work out an agreement as long as Sagadahoc pays for the extra staff required.

The arrangement could benefit Cumberland County taxpayers, they said.

The Attorney General’s Office will order Sagadahoc County to withdraw its inmates from the Kennebec County Jail sometime this week, Nichols said.

Sagadahoc County officials will then have 60 days to find an alternative plan.

The state’s intervention comes at a poor time for Sagadahoc County. The county, which must adopt a budget by June 11, is negotiating with Lincoln County to build a regional jail in Wiscasset.

Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion said he is looking forward to working with Sagadahoc officials on a long-term agreement.

“I think this arrangement could work,” Dion said. “In the short term, it solves their problem, and in the long term it could provide a platform for regionalization.”