Oxford County Commissioners Steve Merrill, David Duguay and Timothy Turner, seated at right at their desk in the county building in Paris on Thursday, meet with Oxford County Jail officials and representatives of Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. Seated at the table, clockwise from left, are Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright, Oxford County Jail Administrator Dana Dillingham, Oxford County human resources representative Annalee Rosenblatt, Two Bridges Regional Jail Administrator James Bailey and Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority Chairman Peter Lepari. Seated in the background is Oxford County Administrator Tom Winsor.
PARIS — The Oxford County Commission voted Tuesday to approve a six-month, $380,000 Inmate Boarding Agreement between the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority and Oxford County.
The current agreement expires in January 2020.
The terms will largely stay the same as previous years, but payment is now split into two equal installments of $190,000, the first of which is due June 13 and the second on Oct. 1.
Commissioners were concerned the contract extension could be jeopardized by the imminent closure of a 48-bed pod of cells at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset after it recently lost a $1 million boarding contract with Waldo County.
Appearing before the commission Thursday, Two Bridges Regional Jail Administrator James Bailey and Chairman of the Jail Authority Peter Lepari said the option to extend the contract would be possible.
Bailey said while the jail would face a significant economic deficit with Waldo County’s prisoners being moved from the jail, the loss would create a cushion for Oxford County, and the contract could potentially be extended in six months.
According to Oxford County Jail Administrator Dana Dillingham, the plan is for Oxford County Jail to reopen as a full service facility in nine months to a year from now. The jail still needs to find food vendors and become recertified back to full service by the Maine Department of Corrections.
The jail has been a 72-hour holding facility since Gov. John Baldacci consolidated county jails in 2008.
Bailey and Lepari cited Oxford County’s excellent working relationship with Two Bridges, and offered to work with Oxford County even after it returns to full service, allowing prisoners to be held there for more than 72 hours.
“Even if you decide to open up the jail, we could work together as your population changes,” Lepari said.
In that same meeting, Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright said Deputy Matthew Noyes would be resigning after accepting an offer from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office.
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