AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The state’s sale of property near the former prison in Thomaston to the current prison warden has prompted Attorney General William Schneider to declare the transaction void, saying it violates Maine law.

Gov. Paul LePage also issued an executive order Monday telling the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to create internal policy guidance for sales of state-owned real estate in order to avoid similar deals in the future.

The three-parcel property was sold June 9 to Maine State Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart and her partner, Sheehan Gallagher, for $175,000, which is $283,000 less than its town-assessed value.

In a letter dated Friday and released Monday, Schneider declares the sale violates a statute that says no one “holding a place of trust in any state office or public institution of the State shall be pecuniarily interested directly or indirectly in any contracts made in behalf of the State or of the institution in which he holds a place of trust, and any contract made in violation hereof is void.”

Schneider’s letter, addressed to Barnhart and Commissioner Sawin Millett of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, suggests that the parties involved in the transaction begin discussions aimed at “unwinding” the sale.

On Monday, LePage issued an executive order telling Millett’s department to create internal policy guidance for sales of state-owned real estate. The order also suspends all pending sales until they are reviewed to ensure that they meet legal muster under the department’s new policy guidelines.

LePage noted he had no prior knowledge of the deal, which was commenced in the fall of 2010 before he was governor and was finished this June.

It was unclear whether Barnhart would challenge Schneider’s opinion. A message left with Barnhart at the state prison was not immediately returned Monday.

The sale of the property by the state Bureau of General Services through a real estate firm, CBRE Boulos, drew the attention of legislative committees that monitor corrections and government operations soon after it came to light. The committees promised to review the sale.

But Betty Lamoreau, the acting director of the Bureau of General Services, defended the sale as proper and said her agency was under pressure from the Legislature to sell properties to raise $1.5 million needed help balance the state budget.

The lot, which is assessed by the town of Thomaston at $458,000, includes three buildings, including a house occupied by Barnhart since she became warden in 2009. The house had been provided by the state to wardens as part of their compensation.

Barnhart had agreed to lease one of the houses on the site to the state Department of Corrections for $1 a year for four years. Barnhart’s proposal for a seven-lot residential subdivision on the site was to have been considered by Thomaston on Tuesday.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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