Maine prisons crowded
Panel studying ways to fix system
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
AUGUSTA — Inmates in the state's prison system sleep four to a cell and bunk on mattresses on the floor because there isn't enough room to properly house them, a top prison official said Thursday.
Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Department of Corrections, told a group that is studying the prison and jail system that the state outgrew its new prison in two years.
"This growth in the past year caught us truly by surprise," she said.
When the Maine State Prison opened in Warren in 2001, officials projected the population would be 1,987 by 2010. Thursday's population was 1,979 and earlier this summer, peaked at 1,995, Lord said.
It's not that sentences are longer or that crimes are more violent, she said. "It's that more people are serving time."
The Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Management and Incarceration of Prisoners met for the first time Thursday and began laying the groundwork for future meetings. The group, which is made up of judges, legislators, a criminal defense lawyer, a county sheriff and others, has until December to report its recommendations to the Legislature.
Local members of the commission include Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle and Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington.
Mills was a district attorney for three Maine counties 18 years ago when a similar task force put out a report called "Corrections in Crisis," Mills said after the meeting. Back then, the state hired an out-of-state consultant to make recommendations.
She said the state needs to start putting more inmates in an intensive supervision program, where offenders would serve six months in jail and then be released on probation. Those who commit more crimes while on probation would then go back to prison for a long time, Mills said.
She also recommended furloughing older or sick criminals so they could collect Medicaid money to help pay for their illnesses.
Commission Chairman Don Allen, a former commissioner of the Department of Corrections, said the commission needs to recommend short- and long-term solutions to the problem, which affects county jails as well.
"We have an opportunity to rest this upward trend of overcrowding before it gets out of hand," he said.
The Kennebec County Jail housed 179 inmates on Thursday, but has a capacity for 151, according to jail officials. In Somerset County, 59 inmates were in custody in a facility that was built for 45. More than 20 others in the care of Somerset County were sent out to other facilities, according to officials there.
The average daily population at the state prison has grown from 1,658 in 2000 to 1,979 this year.
In addition to finding a way to handle the overcrowding, Allen said the group must consider ways the state can better serve inmates with mental illness and health problems.
Lord said a recent survey of inmates in the state prison showed more than 200 were infected with Hepatitis C and many suffered from chronic conditions brought on by smoking, drug addiction and infrequent visits to a doctor.
More women are serving time, Lord said. When a new women's center opened a year ago, it was built to house 70. There are 108 women there now and some of the women are being housed in a separate unit at the male facility.
Overcrowding is taking its toll on those who work at the jails and prisons as well, she said. It's not uncommon for county jail employees to work 70 hours a week or more, and state prison guards are putting in overtime to properly manage the population, she said.
"With an increased number of mandates, employees are tired and that does affect morale," Lord said.
Susan M. Cover — 623-1056
scover@centralmaine.com