A legislative committee is considering ways to reduce jail populations and increase the likelihood that inmates will find stability and support when they are released.
jails
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, News
Former Sabattus woman settles lawsuit in prisoner transport case
LEWISTON — Nearly three years after Meghan Quinn was forced to kneel in a blood- and urine-soaked cage during a five-day extradition from Florida to Maine, her lawsuit against a Florida company, U.S. Prisoner Transport, has been settled. Details of the settlement are confidential. Quinn, 36, said Thursday she was required to sign a disclosure […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web, Uncategorized
County jails seek $2.9 million from state to cover shortfall
AUGUSTA — Officials representing eight county jails in Maine that are facing shortfalls have asked the state for $2.9 million in additional annual funding. Law enforcement and corrections officials said the 2015 overhaul of the state’s county jail system has failed to fix housing and budgetary issues. Legislators are proposing bills to reform funding, reduce […]
Posted inMaine
State Senate approves county jail funding
AUGUSTA — The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation providing nearly $2.5 million in new funding to the state’s county jails. The bill, LD 1614, was amended to cover the costs using part of an anticipated increase in federal Medicaid matching funds the state expects to receive for 2016. It does not, however, offer a […]
Posted inMaine
Bill to fund county jails gains bipartisan support in Maine Legislature
AUGUSTA — A bill that would pump about $2.4 million into Maine’s county jails in 2016 easily cleared the House of Representatives on a 102-44 vote Monday. The legislation, which will bail out foundering jail budgets in Lincoln and Oxford counties, faces additional votes in the Senate. “We’ve heard loud and clear from sheriffs […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine jails full of inmates awaiting trial
AUGUSTA — State lawmakers are considering a proposal to stem a growing trend of county jails being filled with people who have yet to be convicted of any crime. “Maine faces a serious problem with the rate of pretrial incarceration populations in its county jails,” according to a report issued in December by the Intergovernmental Pretrial Justice […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Mental illness creates ‘crisis situation’ for jails
AUBURN — One day recently, the Androscoggin County Jail housed: An 80-year-old man with dementia so severe that he wasn’t able to recognize his own lawyer. A man charged with theft who became catatonic behind bars. A woman who, according to an evaluation by St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, was schizophrenic and possibly suicidal. The […]
Posted inMaine
Maine jails continue to collect EBT cards that don’t belong to inmates
AUBURN — County jail administrators said this week that they continue to confiscate Electronic Benefit Transfer cards from inmates during intake when the card is not in the name of the person who has it. The cards, used for the distribution of state and federal welfare benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known […]
Posted inMaine
Key to jail funding eludes lawmakers
AUGUSTA — A final fix to problems with the way the state helps fund county jails could be put off for another year, according to lawmakers who said Tuesday neither of a pair of bills that could settle the matter will gain the support of Republican Gov. Paul LePage. “Our bills, no matter which one passes, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage moves to cut all funding for defunct Board of Corrections
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is proposing to slash funding for the mothballed state Board of Corrections in the coming budget — a move that could all but ensure the group’s permanent dissolution. The board has been defunct since 2014, when member departures and LePage’s unwillingness to appoint new members rendered the body incapable of […]