AUGUSTA (AP) – The state transferred 46 prison inmates to county jails Wednesday, the first in a series of steps designed to ease overcrowding in the state prison system.

About 90 additional prisoners will be transferred within the next few weeks, the Department of Corrections said.

“Maine’s prisons are overcrowded,” Commissioner Martin Magnusson said. “It’s dangerous for inmates and it’s dangerous for corrections officers. We are at a breaking point and something had to be done.”

The current prison population of 2,150 is projected to reach 2,192, the department said. The system’s capacity is 1,946.

Corrections officials are working with local sheriffs and county jails to line up housing for state prisoners on a per-day contract basis.

The transfers Wednesday involved 33 inmates at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. Those include 23 women who were moved to the Cumberland County Jail and 10 men who went to the York County Jail.

The remaining 13, from the Maine State Prison in Warren, were split between York County and the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset that serves Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties.

The payments to the jails amount to $85 per day per inmate, which is roughly the same cost as keeping them in state custody.

“We see this as progress,” Magnusson said. “But we are still facing a crisis. Overcrowding creates dangerous situations for inmates and guards alike. Our officers are exhausted, and we’ve been forced to suspend training so guards can rest between their shifts. Prisoners are sleeping on the floor. It’s unacceptable.”

Under review

Other options under review include hiring more corrections officers to reopen closed prison facilities and housing some prisoners at out-of-state facilities, Magnusson said.

He said his department is looking at opening a minimum security facility at Charleston for male inmates and setting up 70 transition beds for women, with 40 to be located in Bangor and the remainder at various group homes.

Magnusson said reasons for the increase in prison population include sentence enhancements and an increase in drug-related crime.

He said that while the overall crime rate was about the same, prosecutors in York and Cumberland counties said they were dealing with up to 30 percent more cases than in the past.

Corrections officials were working with legislators on the Appropriations and Criminal Justice committees to explore various alternatives, he said.

“Out-of-state transfers need to be on the table, but we’re trying to do all we can before taking that step,” he said.

Copy the Story Link