Penobscot County sheriff names management team

BANGOR – Rounding out his senior management team, Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross has formally tapped three people to run the jail in what one described as a new era for the department.

Ross, the former chief deputy elected in November as sheriff, promoted Lt. Richard Clukey to captain, bumping him up from assistant jail administrator to jail administrator.

Clukey began as a corrections officer 21 years ago and acknowledged that many issues face the jail, from overcrowding to increased mental health and medical needs of inmates.

The jail is supposed to house 136 inmates, but following national trends, inmate populations regularly exceed that, so far peaking at about 185. Corrections officers increasingly have to deal with inmates with mental health and medical problems.

The jail and its officials were cleared in the suicide death of one inmate in September, while officials are awaiting the findings of a state investigation into an inmate who died of alcohol-related problems 18 hours after the suicide.

Clukey, noting Ross’ emphasis on teamwork, said he saw the jail entering a new era.

The Rev. Robert Carlson, the department’s chaplain and former interim jail administrator, echoed Clukey’s sentiments at the recent promotion ceremony at the jail.

Carlson, who is also chaplain at Husson College, sees a jail’s mission as going beyond rehabilitation, which he said means to restore them to their original condition. Some inmates don’t have positive background experiences to begin with, he said.

In an effort to improve their chances of success once they are out of jail, Carlson proposed an increased emphasis on education inside jails, from occupation training to learning skills such as how to interview for jobs.

To ease jail overcrowding, Carlson said officials are considering a minimum security facility on the grounds of the Bangor Mental Health Institute.

Work release programs will also help to reduce inmate numbers at the jail while benefiting local communities by providing them with services they otherwise might not be able to afford.

It was such inmate work programs run by Sgt. Ty Babb that earned the department the Governor’s Service Award this year. Babb, who has served in the department for 16 years, was promoted to lieutenant and will be responsible for overseeing the programs and services of the facility and supervising the jail during evening hours.

Ross also appointed Sgt. Linda Golden to lieutenant and assistant jail administrator, describing her as the symbol of organization and technological skills.

Golden will be responsible for standards compliance, safety and security of the jail and has been employed by the jail for 14 years.

Earlier this month, Ross announced that Vanessa P. Holmes was named as his administrative assistant, having served for about 20 years with the Penobscot County Commissioners and Treasurers Office. Ross previously named Allen Stehle as his chief deputy.