For the past two months, the Franklin County jail has been overcrowded, the sheriff told county commissioners Tuesday.

“There has been a huge influx of people who cannot be released,” Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said, because of violent tendencies and high bail.

There are some people at the jail that are being held in lieu of $252,000 and $500,000 bail.

Nichols said they have had to board some inmates at the Somerset County Jail in Madison.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 11 inmates at Somerset and 28 inmates at Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington, Nichols said Wednesday.

“About 90% of the people being held are pre-trial,” he said.

Pretrial means the time between an arrest and a conviction of a crime, according to state law. 

Currently, there are eight inmates being held on crimes that carry sentences of up to life in prison or up to 25 years in prison; five are probation holds; 11 are serving their sentences; 11 are being held on domestic violence charges; four are being held on violation of conditions of release.

It costs the county $90 a day to board the inmates at other jails. For 11 inmates that’s a total of $990 a day or $6,930 a week. The capacity at the Franklin County jail is 39 inmates while Somerset County Jail has a rated capacity of 234 and a budgeted capacity of 192, according to the jail’s website.

“We will be bringing in five more (inmates) this week to empty the workers’ room in order to allow contractors inside,” Nichols said.

Contractors will renovate a section of closets into three offices for a new program being offered to inmates.

The county partnered with MaineHealth Healthy Community Coalition representatives in 2024 to get a U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant for $1 million to be paid over three years. Commissioners accepted the grant last November. There is money in the grant to create three offices and pay two corrections officers and a programming and reentry coordinator.

The program aims to address substance use recovery and resources for reentering society after being released from the county jail to reduce recidivism.

The jail is also building a small addition for an infirmary. The existing space in the jail is inadequate, which has been pointed out by the jail’s Board of Visitors, commissioners, and the sheriff’s administration.

The medical space was supposed to be started in May but it was delayed because of wait time for some materials.

Nichols said he will contact U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to see if there are any grants available to add a pod to the jail to hold more inmates.

The Franklin County jail was built in the 1980s in a linear fashion with the new building housing pods to hold inmates.