AUGUSTA – Maine’s prison population has grown at record rates, so fast that there are more criminals than beds.

And it’s not just the state. Of Maine’s 15 county jails, 10 are overcrowded.

“It’s not a crisis a year (away),” said Martin Magnusson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections. “It’s a crisis today.”

Magnusson joined officials from across the state Thursday for the first meeting of a new commission aimed at examining how Maine locks up its law breakers.

Besides Magnusson, members include Janet Mills, a former Androscoggin County district attorney, Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion and Elmer Berry, chairman of the Androscoggin County Commission.

Gov. John Baldacci created the group to look at ways of making the most of available facilities. Issues such as sentencing, probation and the capacity of prisons and jails are all planned for discussion, culminating in a report to the Legislature in January.

Thursday’s first meeting was meant to give commission members an overview of the whole system.

Maine now has just under 2,000 people in its prisons, 1,500 in its county jails and more than 9,300 on probation for past crimes.

And it’s getting worse.

Just three years ago, Maine’s prisons held more than 300 fewer inmates, according to the Department of Corrections. Since the first part of this year, the population has climbed from 1,897 to 1,984 on Thursday.

In 10 years, prison officials predict the total will surpass 2,500.

“That’s unbelievable,” said Magnusson, whose department made the predictions. Forecasts have been reliable, though.

“I question these numbers and you just keep hitting them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the county jail populations are rising at an average of 8 percent a year, said Ralph Nichols, director of correctional inspections for the state.

In Kennebec County, the jail sometimes houses 50 more prisoners than it was designed to hold. In Sagadahoc County, the only one in Maine not to have its own jail, Sheriff Mark Westrum spends his time looking for jails with room for his criminals.

“We are in trouble,” Westrum said. “We are in deep, deep trouble.”

However, the crowding has eased in Androscoggin County, said John Lebel, administrator of the local jail. On Thursday, the jail rated to hold 142 people had a population of 105. But that could go up, he warned.

Lebel, who attended the commission meeting, believes some counties may learn from the local example. Programs aimed at helping people work off jail time, particularly in first and second-offense drunk driving cases, have eased the crowding, he said.

Fewer prisoners allows them to be held where they belong, not just where there’s free space. Often there’s room in minimum security areas but high security areas are full.

Berry, who also sits on a pair of regional groups dealing with corrections, said he believes the state needs to take over all the jails.

Right now, the county jails are 15 different entities with 15 separate elected groups in charge, Berry said.

The concept of state control of the jails will come up, he promised.

Meanwhile, more analysis is coming.

Members asked for numbers of repeat offenders, particularly from minors who end up in the prison system.

Little data has been collected about recidivism, Magnusson said. “We don’t even know who our frequent flyers are,” he said.

dhartill@sunjournal.com