LD 1824, the bill that proposed giving the Maine Board of Corrections additional authority is now law, after the Maine House and Senate overrode a gubernatorial veto May 1.
According to the new law the board’s membership will decrease from nine members to five, consisting of one sheriff, one county commissioner, two representatives from the executive branch, and one member representing the public.
Currently the membership of the board consists of Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, Waldo Commissioner Amy Fowler, and Carlton Barnes a public representative from Washington County.
Governor Paul LePage willappoint the two members of the executive branch. According to Merry, it is being recommended that a representative from the Department of Corrections and a member of the state financial services be appointed to serve on the board.
Mark Westrum, corrections administrator of Two Bridges Regional Jail, has served nearly three years on the board as chairman. With this new legislation his term on the board is over.
During a recent interview, Westrum he said he would be happy to have his term on the board end, because it would enable him to spend more time as the administrator of Two Bridges.
Merry said LD 1824 had strong support in the Senate and the House. The Senate overturned the veto by more a vote of 27-8. The House voted 126-21 to override.
“I believe both the Senate and House want the board of corrections to succeed,” Merry said. “The LD 1824 requires standardization and rule making policies by the board of corrections.”
He also said he believes the legislation is a benefit to the taxpayers.
The counties tax assessment for correctional services will remain capped at 2007-2008 levels. Currently Lincoln and Sagadahoc each pay $2,657,105 for Two Bridges, the maximum the counties can raise from taxes.
Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said he is thankful the bill passed because of the $1.2 million in supplementary funds the board will receive to pay the fourth quarter payments to the county jails to help them get through the end of the year.
“Without that money, I don’t know what Two Bridges would have done,” Brackett said. “Now it is time for the BOC and the working group to work together to meet some milestones to present to the Legislature next year.”
Brackett has been re-appointed to the State Working Group, an advisory committee to the board. He has served on that committee for the past three years.
Governor LePage sent a letter to the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriation and Financial Affairs in February, saying the board of corrections needed to be amended. He mentioned the four options the Legislative Task force had to consider: strengthening the board’s authority; creating empowered regional jail authorities; giving full control back to the counties, or a state Department of Corrections take over of the county corrections system.
“It is for you to determine which option should be adopted into law,” the Governor said in his letter. “The only option that will be unacceptable to me at this time is the option of you perpetuating the problem by leaving the severely flawed system unchanged.”
In his veto letter written on April 29, the Governor was critical of the Democratic party. “The board of corrections system is a holdover from the Baldacci administration,” he said. “Since its conception in 2008, it has cost the Maine taxpayers millions of dollars.
“In 2008 it cost Maine taxpayers around $62 million to house prisoners in jail. That spending is now close to $80 million.” He went on to say in his letter to veto the LD1824, “The board of corrections system of governing jails should be a case study in how wrong Democrat experiments can go. The victims of failed systems are the Maine taxpayers.”
Sheriff Brackett said it is time for all counties to step up to the plate to work together and make the system work.
