AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Jail wants a few less inmates.
Though the state allows the Auburn facility to house up to 160 people, Sheriff Guy Desjardins is capping the jail’s population at 144 inmates, he said Monday.
The reason is safety.
At 160 inmates, the jail has too little space to accommodate a sudden increase in arrests or the flexibility to move inmates for disciplinary reasons, Desjardins said.
A recent National Institute of Corrections report on Maine’s jails system recommended setting “functional capacities” at each of the 15 jails. Some already have.
Both the Cumberland County Jail in Portland and Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset have refused to fill every bed.
Desjardins’ decision comes only weeks after the Androscoggin County Jail hit an all-time high population of 165. Since then, the population has been averaging between 146 and 150 inmates.
“It should not be the norm, but it’s been the norm for weeks,” Desjardins said.
Nationally, jail experts consider 85 percent occupancy to be full. At 144, the Androscoggin County Jail would be 90 percent full.
Desjardins’ decision is having ripple effects through the region. The Androscoggin County Jail is where every arrested person in the county — child or adult — is booked.
It’s also where arrested people in Oxford County are taken who haven’t been bailed after 72 hours.
Desjardins asked Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant to take all 72 hours before sending people to Auburn.
“We’re going to try the best we can because we want this system to work,” Gallant said Monday. Talks have been ongoing between the sheriffs and the administrators of the two county jails, John Lebel in Auburn and Ed Quinn in Paris. “It’s definitely going to effect our staff,” he said.
Desjardins has also sent letters to the police chiefs across Androscoggin County, warning them that juveniles who are arrested may need to stay in the custody of municipal police if they are arrested between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The reason is that Desjardins may not have staff to spare at night to take custody of the child and transport them to one of the state’s juvenile facilities. The Androscoggin County Jail has no facilities for youths.
“We’ll have to call someone in to work and it may take hours,” Desjardins said.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.