PARIS — A few weeks ago, Oxford County Jail Administrator Edward Quinn found himself in a bind.
As he relayed it to Oxford County commissioners on Tuesday, new Unified Court Docket procedures required him to simultaneously transport prisoners from across the state to courthouses in Rumford and Paris so they could appear before a judge.
He was supposed to be in two places at once.
Transporting a handful of prisoners requires at least two guards per van, for which there’s not enough staff to make simultaneous runs from Cumberland County Jail, which houses most of Oxford County’s inmate population.
The only solution was to choose between going to just Paris or Rumford, and missing the other court appointment. As he jokingly told commissioners, he thought he was going to be arrested for contempt of court.
“People think there’s a transport team, more than what we are,” Quinn said Tuesday. “But I think we’re on the way to fix it.”
The account underscores the challenges facing the new court system — intended to cut down on the time and effort it takes to prosecute criminal cases — and the logistical gridlock officials are working through to keep it moving.
Although the Unified Criminal Docket system was implemented as a pilot program in Cumberland and Franklin counties several years ago, July 1 marked the final switch for all other counties across the state. For Oxford County, it allows the regional courthouses in Bridgton, Paris and Rumford to hear felonies and misdemeanors. Previously, only the courthouse in Paris had jurisdiction on felony cases.
The system, which is designed to make court proceedings more efficient, puts cases on a fast track in an effort to resolve them sooner and for less money. At arraignment, in addition to entering a plea, defendants are given three future dates. If the cases aren’t resolved, the final date is a trial.
The system is meant to encourage prosecutors and defense attorneys to find a solution by cutting down on time for motions and postponements. It also is meant to cut down on travel time for police agencies and defendants by regionally grouping defendants to a courthouse.
The logistics are tricky: A typical Oxford County transport starts in Paris, picks up inmates in Portland and then drives north to Bridgton, Paris or Rumford. Not including the return trip, that leg of the journey is roughly 92 miles, 107 miles or 136 miles — and takes nearly three hours. With appointments and down time, inmates aren’t back in jail for nearly nine hours.
By all accounts, it’s been a headache.
In the recent scheduling clash, clerks came up with a solution that defied the system but got the job done: All of the files were shipped to Paris, where the cases were heard.
Julia Finn, a spokesperson for the courts, confirmed the issues were being temporarily resolved by consolidating court files in Paris, for which clerks from other courthouses followed to ease the workload.
Finn reiterated the benefits the new system will bring. Paperwork, she said, will be streamlined: before, a defendant had to have their file duplicated if they requested a trial, a delay which consumed clerks’ time, not to mention paper.
District Attorney Andrew Robinson, who’s on a committee of jail, court and law enforcement officials discussing the rollout, said of discovering the jail’s difficulties, “It’s like someone pulled the block and yelled ‘Jenga!'”
Robinson said problems are being solved as they surface. Court scheduling, he said, was based on judge availability, which wasn’t necessarily matched with the means of the jail.
“Fact of the matter is, everyone looked at it and said it’s a problem, so it’s getting addressed,” he said.
Three solutions are being discussed: tweaking the schedule to stagger court dates, utilizing video feeds or, as was done during the latest bind, handling Rumford proceedings in Paris.
Of them all, Robinson said the first one is most likely to be implemented by the end of the month. Video feeds are hampered by the need for defendants to appear in person for most events, and taking Rumford cases in Paris changes the “theme of the day” by switching up which type of court proceedings are taking place.
“You’re trying to build a system which works best when there’s an automatic response,” he said. “If you’re trying to make changes on too many files, it can’t react as efficiently, which is the whole point of the UCD.”
Quinn said he’d like to see inmates, who make up a smaller portion of the overall defendant population, have their cases heard in Paris. With the nearby jail, it’d be easier to administer medications, serve lunch and be the safer alternative.
“Everyone thought we had a transport team. We only have limited staff. All I need is one emergency and I won’t have anyone to cover the jail.”
ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net
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