Two Bridges Regional Jail administrator Mark Westrum said he is relieved that the impasse between Somerset County jail and the Maine Board of Corrections has been resolved.
From May through the end of July, the Somerset County jail refused to take inmates from other counties, which increased the number of inmates housed at TBRJ.
“The safety and security of the inmates and the guards are of great concern when the jails are overcrowded,” said Westrum. “Other jails – Cumberland and York and Androscoggin – helped out. But the burden was pretty heavy,” he said.
Somerset County jail is the only one that has refused to take inmates since the jails consolidated in 2007.
Westrum, who is also the chairman of the BOC, does not anticipate any other county jails refusing to take inmates. He said that at TBRJ “cooler heads have prevailed.”
Somerset County refused to take inmates from other counties, or state prisoners back in May because the counties have to pay higher rates for their own inmates, whereas the state only reimburses the county $22 per day per inmate, said Westrum.
A major sticking point between the state and the counties, Somerset balked.
At an emergency meeting in Augusta on July 31 the Board of Corrections, Somerset County Sheriff Barry Delong, and Commissioner of Corrections Joseph Ponte, hammered out an agreement.
The BOC agreed to pay Somerset County their full fourth quarter payment for 2012, and also guaranteed the first and second payments for the current (2012-13) fiscal year.
In exchange, Delong and Somerset Jail Administrator David Allen agree to reduce their operating budget to be flat-funded.
Somerset wanted to reduce their inmate population from 192 to 165, and the BOC agreed. In exchange, Somerset jail’s budget will be reduced by $193,000, from $9 million to $6.9 million, said Westrum. Somerset’s budget is essentially flat funded, which is what the BOC wanted.
If commissioner Ponte needs space for inmates, the sheriff and commissioner can negotiate what the details are and how that could work, said Westrum.
“The county system was in a little bit of chaos, and it put an extra strain on TBRJ,” said Westrum. “The agreement is the culmination of a two-month process. It’s been a give-and-take, but I am happy to say we came to an agreement that is acceptable to the BOC, and TBRJ will be offered some relief.”