BANGOR – A state review of the suicide death of a Penobscot County Jail inmate in December has determined that jail officials acted appropriately and complied with set standards and procedures.

“Everything was right in compliance with the correctional standards that they are required to follow,” Ralph Nichols, director of Correctional Inspections for the Maine Department of Corrections, said Thursday.

Nichols sent a one-page letter detailing the findings to Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross, who received the letter on Thursday. Nichols was part of the panel of three who investigated jail procedures after the mid-December death of an inmate who had hanged himself.

For Ross, the finding confirmed what he concluded earlier but could not formally say.

“That was my initial observation, but until a formal investigation is done, you can’t say that,” Ross said Thursday.

Jeffrey McKenney, 39, of Bangor died at Eastern Maine Medical Center on Dec. 11, three days after he tried to hang himself in a jail cell. McKenney, who had been in the jail since Nov. 29, was one of a number of inmates on a 15-minute watch in the general population cellblock.

Even before McKenney was due for a check, a corrections officer passed by his jail cell and saw toilet paper covering an observation window in the door, a violation of jail policy. Investigating, the officer found McKenney had used linens strung on a door hinge to hang himself.

The investigation looked at whether procedures were followed, as well as medical and mental health practices, and whether the jail met required standards, such as for security and staff training, Nichols said.

The investigation panel included Nichols, Lorraine Spiller, a physician’s assistant, and Timothy Piekart, compliance monitor with the Maine Department of Corrections. The investigation lasted three days, two of those spent at the jail.

Police in Bangor arrested McKenney in late November after he threatened to kill his former girlfriend and attacked one of her co-workers with a knife.

McKenney previously had told other inmates that he was depressed, information that was passed onto corrections staff, who in turn notified medical staff, Ross said. But when asked about his concerns, McKenney talked about other problems he was having, but gave no indication that he intended to harm himself, Ross said.