LEWISTON – Gov. John Baldacci’s plan to take over Maine’s county jails – bringing them under the state’s control – is drawing a combination of praise and puzzlement.

Within hours of Baldacci’s Thursday morning announcement, local sheriffs, county commissioners and jail administrators were calling each other, sharing information and wondering what it all could mean.

“We’re splitting at the seams here,” Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins said of his own jail. “I’m just not sure what the solution is.”

The governor’s plan would bring all 15 county jails under the state Department of Corrections. Four jails – including those in Franklin and Oxford counties – would close.

The reason: money.

For each of the past three years, the cost of running Maine’s jails has risen by about 12 percent, Baldacci said in a statement.

During the same period, prison costs have risen about 6 percent per year.

“We have been on the edge of a crisis for some time,” Baldacci said. “The current system is inefficient and unsustainable. People are getting hurt, they aren’t receiving the care they need, and the burden for this outdated system is falling directly onto the back of property taxpayers. The system has to change.”

The governor’s plan is fuzzy, a number of local officials say.

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said. Among them is where Gallant would put his detainees after his jail closes.

Those questions will be answered in a matter of months, said Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections.

The department has gathered people for several work groups aimed at fleshing out the details.

“We are in the process of developing much more specifics,” Lord said. “The process has just begun.”

A detailed plan could be unveiled as early as this fall. Baldacci may call for a special legislative session to act on the matter, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

“We will be ready,” Lord said of her department and its work groups.

One group will look at how state-controlled jails might be staffed. Another is looking at the facilities to see how they might be reallocated. Another is looking at finances.

The House chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, Democratic Rep. Jeremy Fischer of Presque Isle in Aroostook County, said he foresaw resistance in at least some areas of the state.

“Our county is very opposed to it,” he said.

Another member of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, sharply criticized Baldacci’s suggestion of a special session, saying to deal with such a complicated issue in that setting would be “a waste of our time.”

In his statement Thursday, the governor said he would freeze state money to jails at current levels. However, there was no discussion of debt that many counties have incurred to pay for their jails. For instance, Androscoggin County still owes three annual payments of more than $400,000 on its jail, now 17 years old.

Would the state pay that? That’s unknown, Lord said.

The mission of the county jails might be dramatically changed, she said.

As they stand, prisons are for people who have been sentenced to a year or more in state custody. Jails are for everybody else, from drunken drivers still sleeping off their intoxication to somebody given a monthlong sentence for writing bad checks, to people awaiting trial after having been charged with the severest crimes.

As Baldacci’s plan evolves, some jails could be transformed into short-term lockups or specialty facilities for people with mental illnesses.

“While constraining costs and relieving the pressure on property taxpayers is a high priority, our plan will also lead to better outcomes for prisoners,” Baldacci said. “We can’t continue to have prisoners sleeping on floors, and mental illness and substance abuse going untreated. They are in our custody, and we are legally responsible for their welfare. We can’t wait for a crisis that puts the lives of guards and prisoners in jeopardy.”

Leaders in Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin counties have all heard talk of a state takeover before.

It would be a dramatic shift. In every Maine county, jail costs are the single biggest expense.

For instance, Oxford County plans to spend about $1.2 million this year to run its jail. The money accounts for 18.8 percent of its total budget.

Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike said he would consider changes but, like Gallant, he worries what would happen when his deputies or local police arrest somebody.

Deputies in both counties already travel long distances.

The closure of the Oxford and Franklin counties jails would force deputies to make even longer journeys to bring prisoners to a jail, Gallant said.

Convenience – Oxford County’s jail is only a short walk from its superior and district courts – would be lost.

And the cost savings?

Baldacci’s plan predicts an annual savings of $31 million by the fifth year and $38 million by 2015.

County leaders are unconvinced.

The state has a lopsided view of costs because it has often demanded more of jails without adding the funding to pay for it, Franklin County Commissioner Fred Hardy said.

“I’m frustrated by it all,” he said. “If anybody thinks the state of Maine can run anything more economically than we can in the towns and counties then I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you. At the local level, we have to watch our pocketbook.”

At least someone is dealing with the issue of crowding, said Capt. John Lebel, administrator of the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.

“I’m not so sure that the plans that are being presented are well thought out,” he said. “But I’ll applaud the governor. He’s trying to do something.”

On Thursday, his jail was seven inmates above its capacity of 137. Several inmates slept in cots.

In Farmington, the Franklin County Detention Center has surged at times to 49 inmates although only certified for 29. The Oxford County Jail in Paris has a capacity of 44, but averaged 48 inmates last year.

Statewide, 10 county jails are overcrowded while five are at or under capacity, the governor said.

“Our current situation is intolerable,” Baldacci said. “We must act. The state prison system and a number of counties with older facilities don’t have enough room to house inmates, while other counties have beds left empty.”

Staff writer Daniel Hartill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.