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Sagadahoc sheriff reports rising calls and jail strain; court ruling on public defense could affect pretrial population
Summary
Sheriff Mary told commissioners calls for service are up countywide and the Two Bridges jail remains near capacity; she also flagged a federal court ruling favoring the ACLU on public defense that could lead to releases of defendants without counsel and urged commissioners to monitor state-level responses.
Sheriff Mary updated Sagadahoc County commissioners on March 11 that calls for service are up so far this year compared with the same period last year, even as calls in Richmond have fallen after that town added afternoon staffing.
"Our calls for Richmond are down by about 30 percent," Sheriff Mary said, noting Richmond's additional second-shift coverage has allowed deputies to spend more time in other communities. She described increased proactive traffic enforcement tied to Route 1 traffic and said some of the higher call counts reflect enforcement activity.
On jail population, Sheriff Mary said the Two Bridges Regional Jail's total census that day was 171 and that the facility was "pretty full." She said pretrial counts were about 22 and that the jail was holding roughly 20 federal inmates and expected additional federal inmates soon.
The sheriff warned commissioners about a recent court ruling in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union against the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. "The court has ruled in favor of the ACLU," she told commissioners, and a judge has given both sides 30 days to submit recommendations. "One of the things I talked about is if within two weeks they don't have counsel that they would be released from jail," the sheriff said, describing the timeline discussed in the court proceedings. She said the county has not yet determined how many pretrial inmates lack counsel.
Sheriff Mary said the number of lawyers accepting indigent-defense cases has fallen in recent years and that the issue is being negotiated among the executive branch, judiciary and the Legislature. She urged commissioners to track possible impacts on jail population and victim safety but said decisions about public defenders and state funding are primarily state responsibilities.
The sheriff also described work by the Maine County Commissioners Association (MCCA) to pursue increased state funding for county jails; she told commissioners the MCCA-backed proposal passed committee with an "ought to pass" recommendation and will need to move through the larger budget process.
Separately, Sheriff Mary reported on a webinar about the state's Public Safety, Health and Wellness Reimbursement Fund — created in last year's legislative session and capitalized at $2 million — that would support testing for chronic disease and wellness programs for public-safety personnel. She said the fund is seeking multi-agency applications and that county and municipal departments could apply jointly for consortium grants.
Commissioners did not take formal action on the sheriff's report; members asked the sheriff to provide further data if patterns change and discussed running follow-up reports on response times by community.
