Several years ago, Somerset County was at a critical state of affairs with its county jail. The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) declared Somerset’s jail in noncompliance with state standards and issued a clear directive for the county to pursue building a new jail or face closing the existing one. The commissioners at the time set on a fast-pace course to borrow $30 million for jail construction. The jail referendum passed with the narrow margin of 13 votes.

Somerset County only needed 145 beds to meet its needs, but MDOC encouraged it to build a bigger facility claiming that a larger jail would generate money for the county and therefore reduce its debt.

The new commissioners in June signed a construction contract, $2.5 million under budget, to build a 210-bed jail in 16 months and construction was under way. In an August 2007 press conference, Gov. Baldacci announced a state takeover of all county jails, detention and corrections facilities under the guise of property relief. The governor claimed that centralization of the jails would save the state millions of dollars. Somerset County, however, would be left with completing the jail project and its 50,000 citizens would also be left with paying the $50 million price tag.

At a meeting with county commissioners the governor made it clear that his plan was going forward and Somerset County could build the jail or not. His concern was for all the counties, not just Somerset.

Gov. Baldacci requested we meet with his staff to talk about the debt service, but all subsequent meetings with MDOC and the governor’s staff proved to be a waste of time for all parties concerned and no resolution to Somerset County’s financial burden was ever considered.

Before the governor’s press conference, the Maine County Commissioners Association (MCCA) filed a Freedom of Information request to ascertain the basis for the governor’s consolidation plan and a meeting was granted with the Department of Corrections. When the question was asked about Somerset’s debt service, MDOC revealed no intention of paying for debt service, operational costs or added transportation costs resulting from this plan.

What is the governor’s plan all about? Couched in terms of county jail efficiency, it is really about solving the state’s prison overcrowding and understaffing problems. The counties have empty beds because they have planned ahead. When the state ran out of beds for its felons, counties collectively offered the state 175 beds. Not satisfied with a cooperative arrangement, it wants to control county beds without paying for them. Neither the governor or MDOC talked to Somerset County about taking over the jail. The governor’s plan will strap Somerset County with a $50 million price tag with no revenue to offset its expenses.

The governor’s announcement included questionable fiscal assumptions, which the Commissioners Association sought help in analyzing. MDOC has begun modifying its plan based on facts gathered during visits to each county jail, and after MCCA engaged nationally known corrections experts to take a closer look at the proposal. MCCA has been criticized for hiring consultants, and it is said that counties don’t know how to improve jail operations. But it is not incompetence when public officials bring in experts to recommend improvements. Further, many pressures on jail populations are beyond county control; e.g. detainees in some judicial districts wait two years before getting to court.

Maine’s counties fully participated in the two-year Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee. The $300,000 report identified many ways to reduce jail and prison populations, but these recommendations were mostly passed over by the state in favor of grabbing empty jail beds when its overcrowding reached crisis stage. Fortunately, not everyone ignored the report. Chief Justice Leigh Saufley and her judicial colleagues such as Justice Nancy Mills and District Attorney Evert Fowle are moving some criminal cases faster, easing the burden on some jails.

The governor’s plan relies on “reverse revenue sharing.” Somerset County property taxpayers will send money to Augusta to subsidize MDOC operations. The state will “save” money by diverting property tax money when it closes up to six rural jails, using that property tax revenue to offset its reliance on the state’s General Fund. These “savings” will be included in a budget bill, forcing legislators to swallow the plan or cut programs. It is a cynical way to run state government and should not happen. The governor’s plan adds 33 new state employees at a cost of more than $9.5 million to run a system that is already being run by the counties.

Opposing the governor’s plan doesn’t mean we settle for status quo in jail operations. With the consultants’ help, counties will put a plan before the Legislature. Although state officials have shown little willingness to work with us, perhaps we can still work with the state on a plan the counties and state can all support. But it wouldn’t be a bad thing if legislators have more than one option to consider.

Philip Roy Jr. is chairman of the Somerset County commissioners.