Delegation meets with LePage to keep Downeast prison open

The Washington County legislative delegation, including Senate President Kevin Raye, met on October 25 with Governor Paul LePage and Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte to relay concerns regarding the proposed closure of the Down East Correctional Facility (DECF) in Bucks Harbor. If the facility closes, the county stands to lose 68 full‑time jobs with benefits. The state prison, a converted former Air Force station that began accepting inmates in 1985, is a medium/minimum security institution with an inmate population of 148.
The proposal is in response to the request that the Department of Corrections cut $1.2 million from its budget as part of an effort to manage the current $25 million deficit statewide. Aside from operational costs, DECF is in need of renovations, which are currently in deferral. If the facility closes, Corrections Commissioner Ponte estimates his department will save $2 million in operating costs the first year and $4 million each subsequent year.
"We are part of the state government, and we're going through a difficult time," says Ponte, explaining that he sees saving as an obligation at this time.
Ponte clarifies that the state has seen a decline in the number of inmates in the state prison system, and that state prisons are not operating at full capacity. In order to save, perhaps inmates from DECF could be transferred to fill empty beds in other facilities as a means of maximizing state resources.
Despite budgetary concerns, many in Washington County see the loss in jobs as a real threat. "It seems as though rural Maine is the first place they look for budget cuts," says Washington County Commission Chair Chris Gardner, who accompanied the delegation to meet with Governor LePage. "I am alarmed that Washington County will take the brunt of the job cuts."
Rep. David Burns adds, "This is not a proposal that I see as good for Washington County or for the Department of Corrections."
Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith comments on the great working relationship his staff has with those at DECF. "We're isolated here, so we really count on each other."
The sheriff cites collaboration on transporting inmates to facilities in southern Maine, joint‑training sessions for staff at the county jail and DECF, and some shared investigations. He also notes that in 2009 DECF staff saved the county jail $44,000 in overtime because of their willingness to cover shifts at the county facility.
Aside from the jobs and the logistical considerations, the county would also stand to lose community services provided by DECF inmates. DECF boasts a robust set of programs aimed at rehabilitation, including educational opportunities, vocational training and community service. Inmates assist with painting churches, sweeping streets, fighting forest fires and doing various construction projects.
County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald has estimated the savings to small towns have been "in the millions" each year from inmate community service projects. "It is part of the fabric of the community," says Rep. Burns.
Ian Emery, chairman of the Cutler Board of Selectmen and president of the Machias Area Little League, speaks of how a volunteer crew of inmates from DECF worked to renovate the Little League ballpark in Machias. When he asked one of the guards what the average labor cost would be, he was told $3,000 to $4,000, which is nearly a third of the Little League's budget.
Emery says he was particularly impressed with the level of professionalism of the crew, particularly from the guards, who have been specially trained in prison work supervision. Rather than shutting these successful programs down, Emery feels that they should be expanded and shown as a model for work programs in other prisons.
According to Ponte, these work programs would move to different facilities. If the facility closes, most of the inmates would move to either the Charleston Correctional Facility, the Maine State Correctional Facility in Windham, or the Maine State Prison in Warren, depending on the terms of each inmate's sentence and available beds.
However, if there were an influx of inmates within the next few years, county jails would be forced to take inmates from overcrowded state prisons, according to the jail consolidation law passed in 2007 during the Baldacci administration. Not only would prisoners at these facilities be excluded from work and community service programs, but also the cost of housing the inmates would be shifted back onto the counties.
According to Sheriff Smith, it costs about $90 to house an inmate each day at the county jail.
Senate President Kevin Raye says that the governor seemed attentive to the requests put forth by Washington County and that there was a "very open dialogue" on the subject.
The proposal will be presented before a streamlining committee in Augusta on October 28. If approved by the committee, it will be bundled into a general budget that will go before the Maine State Legislature in January. Senate President Raye says that he and the Washington County legislative delegation will continue to work to prevent the facility from closing.