FARMINGTON – The Franklin County jail manager gave commissioners an overview Tuesday of the results of a jail inspection by the Maine Department of Corrections on April 9.

Ralph Nichols, director of operations for the DOC, said the facility had been maintained well and could be easily converted back to a full-time jail, jail Manager Doug Blauvelt said. The jail can hold 31 inmates and with modifications could hold up to 44, according to Ralph Nichols, he said.

Nichols is not related to Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr.

The county is trying to get the jail relicensed as a full-service jail rather than the 72-hour holding facility the state turned it into on July 1, 2009, as part of a state takeover of jails.

Blauvelt received permission from commissioners to seek prices on food service and medical and mental health services.

The sheriff said his staff is in the process of accepting applications for corrections officers.

According to Blauvelt, Ralph Nichols said the proposed staffing plan developed of three corrections officers per shift would work.

Blauvelt said he has been contacted by people who want to supply services.

The state wants to see if it would be more cost efficient to contract out food service instead of the county providing the service, he said.

The vendors could be asked what the cost would be for three meals a day under the current maximum of 31 inmates for 365 days, Nichols said.

The state wants to see numbers, he said.

“What bothers me is we’re going to pay the bill; what does the state have to do with it?” Commissioner Fred Hardy said.

The county has been running a jail for 150 years, he said.

The state capped the amount county taxpayers would raise for jail at the 2008 level prior to the unified system starting. That amount for Franklin County is $1.6 million.

Sheriff Nichols said Franklin County could run the system for less money than currently. He had previously said nearly $1.59 million. The previous staff structure was four corrections staff on each shift, he said.

Under the staffing plan submitted to the state, corrections staff would be doing multiple tasks.

Currently, the county is paying $120,000 to drive inmates to and from other jails and courts, Blauvelt said. That money would be put back into the budget, he said.

There is a Board of Corrections working group meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Marquardt Building in Augusta and the majority of the agenda pertains to Franklin County, Blauvelt said.

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