No.

Maine’s correctional system is run by the state and has no private prisons.

Maine’s eight prisons are all state-operated; there are no facilities operated by private corporations. Official listings of Maine Department of Corrections facilities show seven state-run prisons and Long Creek Youth Development Center, the state’s lone juvenile correctional facility.

Nonpartisan government data resource USAFacts says Maine is one of 22 states that rely solely on publicly operated prisons.

In New England, only Vermont and Connecticut have privately owned prisons housing a small share of prisoners in those states — 8.1% and 4.3%, respectively, as of 2022.

Maine lawmakers have previously rejected bills to explicitly promote or prohibit private prisons. In 2012, they voted against a bill, LD 1095, that would have facilitated their creation and use in Maine.

In 2017, lawmakers rejected a bill, LD 1296, that would have banned the privatization of state correctional facilities and forensic hospitals in Maine.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Jan. 29 to clarify language about Maine’s state-run prisons and about privately owned prisons elsewhere in New England.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

The Maine Trust for Local News partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Sources

• Maine Department of Corrections: Facilities
• USAFacts: How many states use private prisons?
• American Civil Liberties Union of Maine: ACLU of Maine Applauds Vote Against Private Prisons
• Maine Legislature: An Act To Facilitate the Construction and Operation of Private Prisons by Authorizing the Transport of Prisoners out of State
• Maine Legislature: An Act To Prohibit the Privatization of State Correctional Facilities and the State's Forensic Hospitals