Sending the dregs of Maine’s prisons elsewhere sounds great. So does opening new cellblocks and hiring more guards. These are short-term answers, though, for a problem – prison overcrowding – sweeping the country.

Perhaps Maine should dust off an old solution: parole.

Predictably, parole is touted by prison inmates as a miracle cure for myriad ills of the correctional experience: crowded gulags, overworked guards, inmate violence, gang activity, etc.

Parole is time-intensive and problematic, as are any programs that release inmates early are flames for the moths of controversy.

Given Maine’s small population of people and inmates, and low incidence of violent crime, examining a strict parole program – with tough standards for acceptance – is a logical option to consider.

By U.S. standards, Maine’s bulging prisons – now 300 above capacity, according to the Department of Corrections – are still slim. A recent report by Pew Charitable Trusts found Maine has the lowest-per-capita inmate population rate in the country: 149 inmates per 100,000 Mainers.

The inmate population in Maine is projected to grow from about 2,000 to 2,400 by 2011, a 21 percent spike, but one still giving Maine one of the smallest populations in the U.S.

Among these highlights, however, exist concerns. Pew cited Maine’s inmate-to-staff ratio as 1.7, lowest in the country. Maine also still spends $35,000 to house each inmate annually, Pew said, among the highest in the U.S, even though Maine trimmed its per-inmate cost by $12,000 – adjusted for inflation – since 2001.

Corrections is an expensive necessity. But further investment – by sending problem inmates to private prisons, or opening new facilities in Maine – should be last resorts, when releasing the pressure on Maine’s prisons appears manageable by other means.

An expert panel, the Maine Corrections Alternative Advisory Committee, in December recommended several policy changes to reduce costs, mainly focusing on efforts to reduce recidivism, increase collaboration between county jails and prisons, review criminal justice proceedings, and improve technology.

These are all fine solutions, but require long-term work. As currently seen in education, fostering collaboration between governmental entities to find cost savings can be tortuous. Reducing recidivism is a monstrous exercise in curing social ills, while changing criminal justice procedures has been the definition of intractable.

The short-term solutions listed above, floated by Department of Corrections Commissioner Marty Magnussion during a legislative hearing Tuesday, also have strong counter-arguments. The easy answer is massive taxpayer investment – more bars, more walls and more guards, to paraphrase a fictional Maine prison warden – and it should be considered last.

Solving overcrowding means leaving no option excluded from the discussion.

Maybe, then, it’s time to consider parole again.