PARIS — The daily fee charged to Oxford County to board inmates at the Cumberland County Jail will more than double starting July 1.
Oxford County Administrator Scott Cole told members of the Oxford County Commission Tuesday that Cumberland County has notified him that the inmate boarding rate will increase from $50 to $108 per day.
The Cumberland County Commissioners voted June 13 to increase the fee. According to Cole, “in the context of adopting their jail budget, they (chose) to set a higher boarding rate.”
There had been some welcome news recently regarding jail inmate boarding costs when the Legislature approved $2.2 million to be distributed to all Maine counties to help with inmate housing costs. Oxford County received a $500,000 share.
Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant told commissioners he will explore multiple solutions to address the increased inmate housing costs.
“We’re going to look at every angle we can for our housing,” Gallant said. “If we can put together a budget so we can work that down the road in case we have to go back to a full-service jail, what our needs are going to be, because the price that they want makes us really want to look at what we do here at home.”
Gallant said the local jail’s staff is currently not large enough for a full-time expansion of operations, but he would still be able to “board a few out, but we know one jail (boarding price) will be a little bit less than another jail.”
And, he said, “like Scott Cole said, we’re going to look at all different angles. I did leave a note for the sheriff of Cumberland County saying that this is going to force me into a position where I’ll be looking by the end of the year to withdraw my prisoners from Cumberland County. So if we can find some ways in the next couple of weeks to bring some (inmates) home, we’ll do that.”
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