AUGUSTA — Lawmakers attempted Friday to understand the shuffling of state inmates and guards that would take place under a Department of Corrections plan to cut costs.
The plan includes a controversial proposal to send 118 prisoners out of state to be housed in private facilities.
Unveiled last month as part of Gov. John Baldacci's two-year, $6.1 billion budget, the plan has been criticized by lawmakers, civil-liberties advocates and defense attorneys.
The Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee heard details of the Corrections Department's budget plan on Friday. Budget hearings before the Appropriations Committee begin next week.
The plan to move prisoners out of state would save Maine roughly $2 million, with the state paying an estimated $66 a day per inmate. The proposal is one of several cuts the department would make to offset rising costs for heating, food, electricity and staffing.
Other cuts include closing some prison units – including a 94-bed unit at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham and a 90-bed unit at the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren – and eliminating 39 positions.
The plan is to move both prisoners and guards around in the department, closing units and making the system more efficient, said Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson.
The 118 inmates identified for out-of-state transfer are high-medium or close-security prisoners who have few or no ties to Maine, he said. They also would not be good candidates to be housed in county jails, he said.
"I think it would be irresponsible to send those inmates" to county facilities in Maine, said Magnusson. "I think it would turn the jails upside down."
Included in the plan to send inmates out of state is a new "compliance monitor" position for the department. That person would visit the inmates in the private facilities, talk with them and serve as a liaison between them and administrators of the private prisons, Magnusson said.
Legislators cautioned against sending minimum-security inmates back into medium-security situations at the Maine State Prison.
Rep. Richard M. Sykes, R-Harrison, told Magnusson that could have a "detrimental effect" on those inmates' ability to re-enter society. Magnusson said he agreed.
The department's plans are part of an effort to close an $838 million gap in the budget. Even with the cuts, the Corrections Department's budget would increase by $18 million for the two-year period starting July 1 to cover rising costs.
The plan also would increase the number of inmates kept in county jails, up to about 190 from the current 174. Sen. Stanley Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, criminal justice committee co-chair, noted that he and his fellow lawmakers would have numerous hearings on the department's cost-cutting proposals.
"We're going to have more than one bite at this apple," he said.
Gerzofsky and his co-chair, Rep. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, are two lawmakers who have expressed opposition to the plan to move prisoners out of state. Magnusson has said he'd be willing to work on alternative plans.
Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:
mwickenheiser@pressherald.com
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