Solutions sought for jail overcrowding Penobscot County eyes expansion to accommodate growing inmate population

As part of discussions to expand the Penobscot County Jail more than 20 years ago, Penobscot County Commissioner Tom Davis was assured that there would be plenty of inmate space long after he was gone.

Fast-forward two decades and Davis is very much alive and kicking, but there’s no room at the jail.

“Either I’ve lived too long or somebody was wrong,” Davis, a Penobscot County commissioner for the past 22 years, said Tuesday during discussions of short- and long-term solutions to the crowding at the jail.

Completed in 1988, the expansion boosted the jail’s capacity to 136 inmates, and at the time 81 inmates were transferred into the new space. But county officials said inmate populations have been climbing as jails increasingly become depositories for people with substance abuse and mental health problems.

Last year the jail housed, on average, 174 inmates each day and peaked at 201 inmates. Recreation space and classrooms have given way to makeshift sleeping quarters as the jail comes to grips with growing inmate populations.

On Tuesday, the county commissioners signed a variance with the Maine Department of Corrections that allows the jail to increase its official capacity to 182 inmates and avoid costly boarding costs at other facilities. In exchange, the county must increase staff and continue to develop and implement alternate programs such as work release and pretrial release programs that reduce the time inmates serve.

The variance lasts for two years and stipulates that the county must also develop long-range plans for dealing with crowding.

In the long term, solutions have the county returning to the drawing board for another go at a jail expansion.

Making its first steps in developing an expansion, the county is establishing an advisory committee to look at the options. The Rev. Robert Carlson, director of planning and staff development and former administrator at the jail, recommended including a wide spectrum of members, from mental health providers to current jail officials, judges, prosecutors and municipal and county officials.

Although it’s still early in the process, Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross spoke with a sense of urgency as he addressed the commissioners Tuesday.

“I would suggest that dates start to be set [for meetings] and that we proceed forward,” Ross told the commissioners.