Sheriff reports improved staffing, low Sagadahoc inmate count and Two Bridges partnership progress

Sheriff Joel Merry updated the Sagadahoc County Commissioners on staffing, jail population and intercounty arrangements at the Dec. 9 meeting.

Merry said the Sheriff's Office has filled three of five open positions and expects to seek hiring approval at the next meeting for additional candidates. One recent hire is completing field training and another candidate is slated to attend the Academy in February. He said overtime rose during the summer and fall when shifts were minimally staffed but he expects staffing to stabilize in coming months.

On detention operations, Merry reported Sagadahoc’s inmate count at Two Bridges Regional Jail is 22, down from the roughly 24–25 the county typically houses; the facility’s total population was 170 as of that morning and the jail’s capacity is just over 200. Merry said movement in the courts helped reduce local population and that a special management unit is expected to come online around late December or early January as Knox County transitions people into the facility.

Commissioner Steve August and Sheriff Merry described a recently executed agreement with Knox County that brings Knox into the regional arrangement and provides a more stable revenue model for the facility, which is not based strictly on a per-diem tied to individual county populations. Merry said as Waldo County transitions inmates out, Knox will bring inmates in and that the arrangement should help stabilize occupancy and revenue.

Merry also told the board the Sheriff's Office was approved for Bureau of Highway Safety grants and will increase enforcement of impaired and distracted driving during the December holiday period.

The Commissioners thanked staff for efforts on the regional jail collaboration and noted that making the facility fully operational in January will depend on continued hiring to fill remaining vacancies.