AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine sheriffs, like Kevin Joyce of Cumberland County, face a simple requirement that can bust their budgets. They can’t turn away new prisoners.
“When someone shows up at your door and you’re overcrowded we can’t say take ‘em somewhere else. We got to figure out how to deal with them and that all costs money,” Joyce said.
Money is driving a joint effort by sheriffs, county commissioners, and the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee to find a better way to fund the county jails.
Jails are paid for with a mix of state funds and money from county property taxpayers. Current law, in place for more than a decade, places a cap on how much can be raised locally. This year that amounts to roughly $66 million dollars, a little less than two-thirds of the total budget for the jails. The state provides a little over $15 million, with the balance from several other sources.
But sheriffs say the staged funding is always uncertain and has been the focus of repeated battles with lawmakers and governors. This year’s funding amount was negotiated through discussions between the two sides and some last-minute votes. Sheriffs say they need more dependable funding because of rising costs. And would like less drama. Lawmakers appear to agree.
“Every year we deal with this issue of trying to figure a way to stabilize county jail l funding,” says Rep. Charlotte Warren (D- Hallowell), co-chair of the committee. “Every year all our sheriffs across the state spend their entire spring here at the Legislature trying to hope they get the money to fund their jails.”
All involved admit it will be a challenge to find a better way. Sheriffs say they face continuing pressure from rising costs, the struggle to find enough staff and the unpredictability of new laws and numbers or prisoners.
Rep. Warren says they need to look at broader issues than just money, including the possibility of changing policies to reduce the number of jail inmates who end up returning to jail for new crimes before their sentence has been completed. She says lawmakers and sheriffs need to look at all the factors driving rising jail costs and look for ways to change to achieve better results.
The committee is expected to have AG lease three more meetings, as it hopes to develop proposals by the end of December.