A pact that settled a federal lawsuit involving York County Jail inmates will require they get proper training and equipment for cleaning up blood spills.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union reached agreement with jail officials in the wake of a suit launched by MCLU on behalf of several inmates who claimed their rights were violated when supervisors forced them to clean up an extensive blood spill in a cell in November 1996, according to a written statement by MCLU.

Inmates at that jail won't be forced to clean up blood against their will, according to a consent decree approved by a federal judge.

A check of policies at other Maine jails turned up a variety of approaches to dealing with blood spills and other biohazards.

Capt. John Lebel, administrator at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, said Tuesday that inmates who work at the jail in exchange for time off their sentences perform cleaning duties.

When dealing with biohazards, such as blood, they are given protective clothing and sanitizing chemicals, Lebel said. Jail officers trained in how to handle biohazards supervise those inmates, he said. It wouldn't make sense to provide inmates with intensive training on handling of biohazard materials because average jail stays don't last for more than two or three weeks, he said.

An inmate filed a complaint with the Maine Department of Corrections in November claiming he was forced to clean up fecal matter outside a cell. The jail was cleared of wrongdoing after officials showed that inmate took the action voluntarily and without authorization, Lebel said.

He said he wasn't aware of any instance in which an inmate was forced to clean up a biohazard or threatened with punitive action if he or she refused. Because their jobs as trustees may include those duties, inmates might feel compelled to attend to those tasks without protest, he said.

Administrators at county jails in western Maine said Tuesday that jail staff, not inmates, are charged with the duty of cleaning up blood.

The only time an inmate at the jail in Franklin County would have contact with blood is if he or she did it without authorization, said Carl Stinchfield, assistant administrator. Otherwise, that duty is left to the staff, which is equipped with the proper protective gear and cleaning solutions needed to sanitize surfaces contaminated by blood, he said.

At the Oxford County Jail, it's the job of properly trained staff to handle blood spills according to federal guidelines, said Capt. Ernest Martin, the jail's administrator.

In the late 1990s, an inmate cut himself roughly a hundred times, requiring nearly as many stitches.

"It was probably the bloodiest mess I've ever seen," he said.

Jail staff cleaned up the mess after securing the area. He said he doesn't ever remember an inmate handling a blood spill.

The MCLU's legal director, Zachary Heiden, says inmates must give up their freedom when they go to jail "but they don't have to give up their humanity."