PARIS – Plans to change the Oxford County Jail to a 72-hour holding facility will move forward this summer, though jail officials said the new proposal remains unpopular.

Sheriff Wayne Gallant said $3.5 million needed for the state’s unified jail system to work through the beginning of the fiscal year in July was made available on Tuesday by the state Appropriations Committee. Gallant said the funds came from Public Safety and liquor accounts.

“July 1 is when we take on a whole new face here,” Gallant said.

Under the plan proposed by the state Board of Corrections, the Oxford County Jail and three other county jails in the state would be downsized from their current status. Oxford would hold inmates for 72-hours after arrest, and pre-trial and sentenced inmates would be held at the Androscoggin County or Cumberland County jails.

“No one really wants that to happen,” said jail Administrator Capt. Ernest Martin. “It’s creating a lot of anxiety among employees.”

While the plan would lead to a savings in food, salary and medical expenses, Gallant has also said it would increase transportation expenses, eliminate the labor of sentenced trustee inmates, and put more of a burden on the judicial budget as defense lawyers travel farther to visit clients.

The plan would also reduce the number of positions at the jail from 20 to 14.

“They do it in such a way that they’re always talking numbers, but we’re talking real people here,” Gallant said.

Of the six positions that have been lost, three are open positions that are frozen and unoccupied. Martin said some employees have already sought other work in anticipation of layoffs.

Lt. Loretta Sanborn, assistant jail administrator, recently resigned and will take a job at Maine Pre-Trial Services. Martin said Sanborn had worked at the jail for 23 years.

“I consider that a casualty, to be here that long and find that you might not have employment anymore,” he said.

Martin said a correctional officer has also resigned, and the kitchen staff at the jail is also planning to seek employment elsewhere. Martin said the jail might still have to fire one employee.

State figures have stated that 80 percent of pretrial admissions to the jail are released within 72 hours, and that the jail population would average four to five inmates per day. Martin said he believes the jail will still be booking an average of 1,800 inmates per year, and some weekends may push the average figure up.

“There may be targeted dates when we really have to augment our staff,” said Martin, noting the high number of arrests that often accompanies the TD Banknorth 250 weekend in Oxford.

Gallant said that he does not believe the plan will result in significant savings, and worried that there could be more cutbacks in the future. Martin said there are also some concerns that the new jail procedure may make the facility more vulnerable to closure, a possibility floated by the state last year.

“I think there’s some concern over whether we’re still going to be considered essential,” said Martin.

The new setup will also result in changes to the way the jail is run. Entrance policies will be altered, a control room will be used solely for observation, and a multi-purpose room may be converted into a training room for jail staff.

Martin said pre-trial and sentenced inmates will be transported to other jails in the weeks prior to the change.