By Christopher Cousins
The Bangor Daily News
BANGOR — On Feb. 13, the Legislature and Gov. LePage enacted a bill that essentially cut the state’s Board of Corrections out of the oversight of county jails, at least until the end of the fiscal year, and provided about $2.5 million in emergency funding. The bill appointed the Department of Corrections Commissioner Joseph Fitzpatrick or his designee to oversee the disbursement of the money and other matters.
Later that day, Fitzpatrick sent a letter to county sheriffs, urging their cooperation on sharing bed space — i.e., jails with fewer prisoners accepting prisoners from other counties — which has been a source of conflict among the jails for years.
“It seems to be challenging for some counties to cooperatively collaborate around the use of available beds within the county jail system,” wrote Fitzpatrick. “It has also come to my attention that recently, some counties are requesting the removal of inmates sent to them by other county jails due to a lack of bed space at the sending facility. … I do not believe the county system has a lack of bed space; however, there does appear to be a lack of cooperation amongst some counties.”
Fitzpatrick called for a meeting of sheriffs and jail officials, but only if all of them would come to the bargaining table.