FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to pay $315,288 to the Board of Corrections for the second half of the 2014-15 payment for the county jail.
The payment covers Jan. 1 to June 30.
It is $50,000 less than the Board of Corrections requested.
Commissioners nixed sending in an additional $50,000 in August for the first half of the year from July 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2014. Instead they agreed to send in the regular first-half payment of $315,288.
The Board of Corrections reduced the county’s budget during last year’s budget process for 2014-15 by $100,000, and on top of that, requested an additional $100,000 be added to the $630,576 the county sends in annually to support other jails in the system, according to county officials.
Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. told commissioners it is his personal opinion that the county keep as much money as it can because it is unknown if the state Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will approve the more than $2.5 million needed to keep the consolidated county jail system operating through June 30.
If the state doesn’t, it will need to have the jail up and running in full operation by July 1, he said.
The county has built a surplus of $500,000 as of June 30, 2014, with half of it dedicated to reserve accounts, including replacing the jail’s roof.
His personal opinion, Nichols said, is “to hold tight to the money we have.”
Knowing the Franklin County Detention Center was running a surplus that averaged in excess of $100,000 each year, the Board of Corrections decided to budget an increase in payment for the county, raising it from $630,576 to $730,576 for the current fiscal year. That move is allowed under law, Andrew Black, an assistant attorney general and legal counsel to the Board of Corrections, wrote in a letter this past fall to the county’s attorney, Frank Underkuffler.
The state never amended the amount of community corrections funds it sent to the county for inmate programs when the mission changed in 2009 from a full-time jail to a 72-hour holding facility, Black wrote.
The county argued that approximately half of the yearly allotment of $132,000 or so from the state is used for pretrial services for inmates. They also argued that the county is required to justify each year what the money will be used for, and the amount was approved by the state annually.
Sometimes in lieu of bail, a judge allows someone who is accused of a crime to be eligible for a pretrial services agreement that includes reporting to a representative of the program and behavioral conduct.
Newly elected County Commission Chairman Gary McGrane of Jay said Tuesday that other county jail facilities use the community corrections money for inmate programs, including adult education to help reduce recidivism.
Recidivism refers to a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime, according to the National Institute of Justice.
He would hate to see the county’s action to withhold money jeopardize other jails’ programs, McGrane said.
McGrane previously said he does not want the consolidated system to fail because of Franklin County’s actions.
Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon moved to make the regular $315,288 payment. He said that pretrial services is a program for inmates and he has seen no proof that the surplus the county has built up is from the community corrections funds instead of the county being frugal.
He also told McGrane that, as McGrane has mentioned before, the surplus money only can be used for corrections.
“It is up to the state of Maine to fund this damn thing (the consolidated jail system),” Hardy said after the vote.
They put a cap on this, he said.
The state capped the amount of money each county could raise for the jail at the 2008 amount. For Franklin County, it is $1.6 million.
“The state of Maine has never stepped up to the plate,” Hardy said. They funded some of the money, but not to the extent of what is needed, he said.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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