AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine’s top elected officials reacted with surprise Monday to word that the state Corrections Department is preparing an online list of all state prison inmates and others who are on probation for any offense.

Gov. John Baldacci said the list will not be posted on the Web without a thorough public review.

The Corrections Department’s Web site, which was to include information on roughly 10,000 people, was expected to go on line in six weeks to two months. Officials see it as an aid to police, who would have up-to-date and instant information on a suspect’s probation status, and to crime victims, who could find out whether perpetrators are behind bars.

But Baldacci said he had not been briefed on the program and does not want it to go forward until he, the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, and those affected by the plan have a chance to present their views, the governor’s spokesman David Farmer said.

“This isn’t going to happen until there’s a lot more public vetting,” Farmer said.

Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, said she too was surprised and concerned by the Web plan, saying it had not been discussed nor authorized by legislative leaders.

“I’m a little amazed,” Edmonds said. “I do have some concerns.”

The online registry would be separate and different from Maine’s sex offender registry, which includes the names, photos, offenses and other information about hundreds of convicted sex offenders in Maine. The sex offender site has come under intense legislative scrutiny since two men were shot to death at their homes in 2006 by a man who saw their listing.

The Legislature earlier this year passed a bill that sought to make distinctions in the registry between dangerous sex offenders and those seen as less of a public threat, but Baldacci vetoed it, saying the registry guidelines needed more refinement.

The new registry would include about 2,000 prisoners and 8,000 others who are on probation for crimes that could range from murder to less-serious offenses such as drunken driving, Deputy Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord said.

Unlike the sex registry, the new one would not include addresses of offenders. Names would be deleted after probation is completed, Lord said. On the sex offender site, names remain after sentences and probation are completed.

Lord said the sites would include only information that is public record, such as name, birth date, offense, sentence, projected release date and physical description. She said Maine would be putting into effect what most other states have already done.

“Our computer system has reached a point where it’s advanced enough to do this,” Lord said.

The system would enable police to find out at once whether a suspect is on probation, eliminating delays that now exist, Lord said. In addition, victims of crimes could go online to see whether the perpetrator remains in prison, “so it’s a victims’ service,” she said.

A third service planned through the Web site would have enabled families of inmates to send money to their prison accounts, Lord said.

Critics said any information about offenders that would be offered online is already available to anyone who asks for it. The Maine Civil Liberties Union expressed concern “about these over-broad registries that frustrate the goal of rehabilitation and reintegration into society,” said Executive Director Shenna Bellows.

“We are particularly concerned that the new registry appears to include those who represent little or no threat to society,” said Bellows. She said past experience with registries shows that they can lead to discrimination against offenders.

The Corrections Department and lawmakers had different recollections of whether the idea had yet been floated by the committee that delved into sex offender registry issues, Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

Lord said the idea had been mentioned, but acknowledged that the committee had “not explicitly” authorized it. She also said the committee had not asked to approve it.

Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said the idea had not been brought before the committee during the four years he’s co-chaired the panel, “and if it had there certainly would have been a lot of issues raised.” Policy makers must take great care before putting a person’s name before the public, he said.

“I don’t think they understood the problems that come with this thing,” Diamond added. “There are too many questions to be asked and answered, and I think it’s going to be put on hold.”