What’s the difference between a county jail and a state prison?

For starters, prisons house convicted criminals who have either confessed to a crime or been found guilty in a court of law. Jails, for the most part, house the accused. The accused have to meet with lawyers and commute between the courthouse and the jail.

Another big difference: the needs of the population. The average prisoner, depending on the crime committed, spends between two and 40 years in prison while the average jail occupant spends 10 to 15 days.

If you’ve read even a few of the many articles this week concerning the governor’s proposal to take over the county jails then you’ve read some pretty straightforward talk from some pretty blunt sheriffs.

What gives these Wyatt Earp types the gumption to choose truth over political expediency? Maybe it’s because they’re just about the only elected officials who run for office knowing that if they do a lousy job somebody could die.

Of course, all of our elected officials can misstep and cause folks to die, but congressmen and senators and governors don’t have to personally clean up the mess nor do they have to worry that the spilled blood might be their buddy’s or their own.

So I called Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, a man I’ve never known to mince words, and he gave me his opinion of the surprise proclamation from the governor that the state wanted take over the county jails – right away – by special legislative session if possible.

Because they received no advance warning, Dion feels that “the overwhelming negative reaction of sheriffs and county officials was caused by a sense of betrayal.”

See, state and the county administrators formed the Corrections Alternative Advisory Committee and they all chipped in money to pay for it. Together they discussed the serious issues that face the county lockups as well as the state prisons, and the county officials believed that together they would find solutions. At least that’s the impression they got when they anteed up their share of 300,000 tax dollars.

According to Dion, when discussing the problems of overcrowding, somebody did suggest that the state buy the jails from the counties and run them.

“Now that would have resulted in lower property taxes,” Dion said.

But the governor’s plan takes the jails without paying for them. The governor’s plan requires the county to pay what they paid this year to support the jails – every year – indefinitely.

Dion was stunned. “At least when the state takes private property by eminent domain they pay fair market value for it. Now they want to take the public property owned by the counties and pay nothing for it. It would be like taking your house, telling you to get out but saying you still have to pay the mortgage.” Dion said the state doesn’t kick in on the jails’ operating budgets unless the costs go up.

And the immediate impact of the proposal to the county? Dion will have definite numbers after he meets this week with the county’s financial advisers but the lost revenue from housing federal prisoners will likely result in “a 20 point jump in the mill rate.”

Dion added, “I can’t think of one good reason to support this. The proposed closing of four or five jails in the state is where their project savings come from: That’s accounting fantasyland. The jails are located near the courthouses for a reason. Seventy-five percent of the people in my jail are still under the presumption of innocence. That’s a vitally important part of our justice system.”

And the most astounding part of all, Dion says, is that “we already house state prisoners in our available beds; the only difference is we negotiate with the state to take them now. If this goes through, the county will have no input at all.”

I forgot to ask Dion if he had ever read Kurt Vonnegut’s book “Hocus Pocus.” Once the jails are consolidated, they can be privatized and sold off to companies to operate at a profit. The legislature should all get copies. You might want to pick up a copy too.

Pat LaMarche of Yarmouth is the author of “Left Out In America: The State of Homelessness in the United States.” She can be contacted at PatLaMarche@hotmail.com.