BELFAST – Two recent suicides and constant crowding have prompted the state Department of Corrections to order the Waldo County Jail to cut the number of inmates it boards by almost half, officials said Tuesday.

In a decision that could cost the county up to $1 million a year to ship its inmates to other county jails, the department has limited the jail to 23 inmates and banned female inmates from the facility.

The jail was built 30 years ago to hold 17 prisoners. Over the years the Corrections Department had approved double bunking and various waivers that increased the allotted inmate population to 36.

Even with the waiver, the jail averaged 40 inmates a day in 2002, and has averaged 41 a day this year. On Tuesday, the jail housed 38 inmates, including six females.

“As I mentioned, your capacity is being limited to 23 as a result of the two deaths at your facility and your continued overcrowding,” said Ralph Nichols, state director of correctional inspection, in an e-mail to Sheriff Scott Story last week. “Also, we will limit your facility for adult males only.”

Story notified the Waldo County commissioners of the decision on Tuesday. The county has been aware of the safety and crowding problems at the jail for years and has proposed building a $17.9 million facility to replace the existing jail.

Waldo County voters will decide the fate of the proposed jail when they go to the polls Nov. 4. If the project were approved, the bond payment to build the new jail would run about $1.2 million a year.

“We’ve run out of space, we’ve run out of time and let’s hope on November 4 we don’t run out of brains,” said Commissioner John Hyk after hearing Story’s report.

On June 1, 2002, Lee Chambers Jr., 27, of Belfast was found hanging from a bedsheet in the jail. He was being held on a probation violation.

On July 9, 2002, John Stewart, 54, of Thorndike was found hanging from a noose made from socks. He had been arrested a few hours earlier on a domestic assault charge.

When the state investigated Chambers’ death, it concluded that while some guards had incomplete suicide prevention training, procedures had been followed in the period before and after his suicide. The Corrections Department has yet to issue its report on the Stewart death.

Story said the department had allowed overcrowding at county jails because there were no empty cells within the state system.

Now that a new jail has opened in York County, the department has started to crack down on the practice. He said crowding presents unsafe conditions for inmates and staff.

“They are asking why are people dying in county facilities. They are not going to let bad things happen in these facilities,” Story said. “The reason this is happening is because nine people have died in Maine jails in the last year.”

Story told commissioners that the new inmate levels must be in place within 60 days and that he had 10 days to appeal the ruling. He said he intended to appeal as a formality, but doubted there were grounds to convince the department to change its mind.

Given the current average inmate population, Story said, he would be required to board an estimated 18 inmates per day in other jails. At an average cost of $100 per day, that works out to $657,000 a year for boarding prisoners.

In addition, it will cost Waldo County to take the inmates to the other jails. Because neighboring jails also are faced with the problem, Waldo County may have to ship its inmates to jails in Androscoggin, Cumberland or York counties.

Story noted that he probably would be required to hire a full-time transportation officer to handle the logistics of transporting inmates between court appearances in Belfast and the out-of-town jails.

He said the distance to the other facilities would require additional staff hours and better vehicles. The county uses high-mileage former patrol cruisers to shuttle inmates the one-eighth-mile between the existing jail and the courthouse.

Story said most of the inmates boarded out would be those serving longer sentences. That would put a damper on the jail’s work release and community service programs because it is long-term inmates who earn the “good time” to be sent on work details such as painting churches and schools. He put the potential loss at thousands of hours.

“Ultimately, what happens is you’re sending money out of Waldo County. It’s a net loss across the board,” said Hyk.

Commission Chairman Jethro Pease said that even if the new jail wins approval, it would be at least three years before its doors could be opened.

In the meantime, the county will have to bite the bullet on boarding prisoners, he said.

“The DOC has to do it, it’s their job. The only reason they haven’t done it is there was no room,” Pease said. “People say throw them in there and let them rot, but that doesn’t solve the problem. … I shudder to think that no matter what we do, the next three years are going to be hell. We’re already three to four years behind the eight ball.”