The state’s new Board of Corrections, which was formed a year ago to implement a host of changes in the county jail system, passed its first major milestone this month with the passage of budgets for all 15 of the county’s jails.
With expenses for county jails growing by about 9 percent annually in recent years, the budget agreed upon on Aug. 5 had an increase of about 0.9 percent for fiscal year 2010. Neale Duffett, a Portland-based attorney who chairs the board, said that achievement was significant but cautioned that reining back expenses to that degree will be difficult in the future.
“We can’t keep that up forever,” said Duffett.
Regardless, the board and several subcommittees have a long list of goals that will create further efficiencies in the system. Already implemented is a major change in missions for three jails.
Oxford and Franklin county jails have been converted to 72-hour holding facilities and Waldo County Jail is now a re-entry facility. Those changes resulted in most of the savings for 2010, along with whittling down spending at the other jails by instituting efficiencies.
With its first budget behind it, the board is now focused on new initiatives that will further cut costs. Among them are regionalizing medical and pharmaceutical services, reducing the number of outside contractors used and rethinking the transportation of prisoners, which Duffett said represents a major expense. One way to accomplish that goal is the use of “video courts,” where defendants appear in courtrooms on screen and not in person.
Sen. Stan Gerzofsky (D-Brunswick) the Senate chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, hailed the board’s work.
“They’ve done a fantastic job,” he said. “They’ve put a lot of work into this and they’re all volunteers.”
The board was created to guide the implementation of a unified corrections system that includes state prison facilities and county jails. Gerzofsky said Maine’s approach to corrections has quickly become a model among New England states that are all facing similar financial woes.
George Jabar of the Maine County Commissioners Association, who is a member of the Board of Corrections, said he was pleased with the outcome. The law that created the board also stipulated that the cost to counties for running their jails would never exceed the amount spent in fiscal year 2008, which was $62.5 million.
“Not only have we reduced the rate of growth in county jail costs but we are also saving the tax payer millions of dollars in property taxes,” said Jabar in a recent press release. “One of the goals of the unified corrections system was to reduce the property tax burden.”
An early triumph for the board was securing $3.5 million from the state’s General Fund for the operation of jails. Despite a financial situation that triggered cuts in every department in state government, the money was secured after the Criminal Justice Committee found savings in other areas.
Asked about the challenge of advocating for jails when there are so many other needs, Duffett said it was no challenge at all.
“It went well,” he said. “We had strong support.”
