Concerns about consolidation raised by county critics must be considered

Maine’s corrections system is facing significant challenges. Gov. John Baldacci has recently made headlines by recommending the consolidation of the state and county jails. Critics have raised a number of valid concerns.

It is not yet clear that a single system will produce the savings claimed by the Maine Department of Corrections; many real questions remain about how the new system will operate and what it will mean for existing county officials, sheriffs and employees. Funding connected to capital and operating costs needs more thought. The governor is continuing to refine his proposal, and it is expected to be presented to the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee for review next year.

While I will not endorse any one plan until these concerns are addressed, I do believe jail consolidation is an idea that deserves a closer look. First, there are critical problems in Maine’s correctional system. We are faced with a growing prison population, skyrocketing health care costs for inmates, and a system failing to adequately address the underlying mental health and substance abuse problems that land many people into the criminal justice system.

Currently, there is significant overcrowding in state facilities. The situation was so bad earlier this year that the Department of Corrections considered shifting some inmates to for-profit, out-of-state prisons. That was not an acceptable option. Maine inmates belong in Maine, near their families. A consolidated system could allow the state to use the existing excess capacity in the county system to ease overcrowding in state facilities.

The population of Maine’s prisons continues to rise. This burden has led to repeated cost overruns within the department and forced corrections employees to work excessive amounts of mandatory overtime. A meaningful consolidation plan must include efforts to control inmate population, including expanded use of alternative sentencing.

Under a consolidated system, the department could create facilities targeted to serve inmates with mental health and substance abuse problems. Improving services could lower recidivism rates and ultimately make our communities safer. Here, we must also address the inadequacy of the forensic unit at Riverview, the state mental health hospital.

However, it is unclear how expanding services will deliver the short-term cost savings claimed by the department.

Property taxpayers know county jail assessments are a burdensome and rapidly growing part of their property tax bills. If done correctly, consolidating jails under state control could curb costs, lower property taxes, and improve the corrections system. I will support only a plan that makes the state fully responsible for the costs of jails, including the outstanding capital costs for county jails.

That plan must guarantee that counties pass their savings onto local property taxpayers.

The governor’s initial proposal called for closing four jails, which includes those in Oxford and Franklin counties. This raises hard questions about what will happen to those inmates who, under the current system, would be housed in those jails. They would have to be transferred to other facilities, placing added burdens on county officials to transport them and making it harder for their family members to visit them. These are some of the logistical problems that a revised proposal must address.

Finally, the department claims an unified system would be less expensive than the current arrangement. They claim savings of $10 million in the first year and $38 million by year five. County officials are justifiably skeptical of this claim. Presumably, the state will convert many county jail staff to employees of the department. Anecdotal evidence suggests county employees are paid less than their state counterparts. If true, staff changes may eat into cost savings.

Many thoughtful people continually call on state and local governments to do more with less. They challenge us to streamline government and make it more efficient. The governor has suggested a consolidated corrections system can do just that. Counties are expected to offer a proposal of their own next year. Any plan will only win approval if it will deliver on the promises of costs savings, improved services, and lower property taxes.

We must satisfy a combination of desires here, as people with different purposes come to the table. I believe we can work together as one Maine – on all levels – to forge a new structure that is more efficient fiscally, more effective in managing the corrections system and fairer to all of Maine’s citizens.

Sen. Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, is president of the Maine Senate.