By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

PARIS – Overcrowding at the Oxford County Jail once again has officials talking about building a new regional or local facility.

In a report Tuesday, the Oxford County commissioners learned that 51 inmates were housed at the jail as of late last week.

“Now that’s over our limit,” Commissioner Chairman Steve Merrill said.

“I wish,” Commissioner Jim Carey added, “that the state would think about building a prison instead of asking the counties to expand theirs.”

Lt. Lauretta Sanborn, who works at the jail, said Wednesday there were 47 prisoners at the facility. The jail’s limit is 45 to 46 prisoners, she said.

Lack of jail space, which has become a problem statewide, has been discussed by the commissioners in the past. On Tuesday, Oxford County Sheriff Skip Herrick said it’s especially difficult now to find space at other jails when inmates need to be transferred because of overcrowding. Prisoners are transferred out to other county jails when the Oxford County Jail limit is exceeded.

Cumberland County is taking prisoners from other counties, Herrick said, but the cost there is $109 a day.

So far, Herrick said, the county has been fortunate because prisoners have been rotated through the jail quickly. The numbers can fluctuate even during the day.

Sanborn explained that the jail is a 27-bed facility, but cots can be added to cells to hold more prisoners.

“We’re floating right on the limit here,” she said about Wednesday’s jail population. This year, she said, the average number of prisoners per month has been consistently higher than last year.

Herrick on Tuesday said the problem is growing worse. Carey asked whether the county should consider setting aside money in preparation for building a new jail.

In 2003, representatives from Androscoggin, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford and Somerset counties began meeting to discuss building a regional jail. Herrick said that idea may be rekindled in coming months.

“The problem’s not going away,” he said.

According to Sanborn, Oxford County Jail holds only Oxford County inmates at this time and doesn’t board state inmates.

The county has not sent prisoners to another facility since the summer, she said.