The concept of a pre-release center in place of the now closed Downeast Correctional Facility (DCF) in Machiasport met with cautious enthusiasm at a public hearing held on February 28 by the legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. After a work session held on March 5, the committee voted 11‑1‑1 on an amended version of the bill. It will now move to the House and Senate.
     The bill in discussion, LD 1841, "An Act to Authorize a Pre‑release Facility in Washington County," was written as an emergency bill by Senator Joyce Maker of Calais in order to hold the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the governor's office accountable to a bill passed in 2016, LD 1447, that included a bond for $149 million to expand the Windham prison and to fund a pre‑release center in Washington County. LD 1447's language did not specify that the pre‑release center be new or be incorporated into the DCF facility.
     The amended bill strives to create a compromise between what the governor's office has proposed and what Senator Maker had intended. The committee members were particularly concerned that the bill not "die" once it went to the floor. The amended version is to authorize the purchase of a pre‑release facility on state‑owned property in Washington County with a minimum occupancy of 40 and a maximum occupancy of 50 and for it to be operational by December 31, 2018.
     Many committee members referenced the upcoming elections with the possibility that a new administration and many new legislators could create a more favorable environment for such a facility in Washington County. "I do feel that this is probably the best we're going to get," Senator Maker said of the amended version. "If this gets killed in the end, we still have the bond. The bond will always be there."

Governor's proposal meets with resistance
     While those at the public hearing testified in favor of the bill, they were decidedly negative about a specific version of a pre‑release center described by the governor's senior policy analyst, Aaron Chadbourne. Former DCF corrections officer of 26 years Daniel Ramsdell said, "It sounds like a half‑way house not a pre‑release center. ... We've had a pilot program for years [at DCF], and it's worked." Ramsdell acknowledged that when DCF switched to minimum security and to the work‑release and transitional skills model, he was skeptical at first. "Over time I found that it really works," he said, adding, "And they've destroyed it." Of Chadbourne's proposal, he said, "I cannot fathom this."
     Chadbourne described a 20‑bed facility, to be located in a Machias‑area property that would be purchased by the DOC, that would act as a pilot project for the rest of the state with the potential for satellite locations. Committee member Rep. Lois Reckitt asked if the plan called for contracting out the program. Chadbourne said there had been no discussion about contracting out the pilot. However, for the satellites he said that it would depend on the model used. Reckitt expressed her desire to see DOC state employees used, not a contract model.
     Looking at the larger picture of corrections and inmate population was Jan Collins with the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. "In the last three years the number of inmates has increased by 20%. It's not sustainable." She added, "What is our intent with pre‑release? If the goal is to lower crime rate, the prison population and strengthen communities, then we need to look at the program carefully." With over 200 inmates qualifying for pre‑release transitioning programs in 2016, if they had access to a 20‑bed program, "It doesn't meet the need."
     For the pilot facility in Washington County, housing to be used by inmates during seasonal employment would be configured to be on or close to employers such as Whitney Wreath or Cherryfield Foods. Neither company, represented respectively by David Whitney and David Bell, had much to say about the governor's proposal that was positive.
     Whitney told the committee that in the fall of 2017 he requested 20 work‑release inmates for the wreath season. Of those, 18 were interviewed and 15 hired. There was some attrition, and he ended up with 12. He pointed out the significance in that winnowing and how a 20‑bed facility would not begin to meet the demands of area employers willing to work with inmates on their transitioning into the job market. Dormitories on his campus also caused him concern.
     Bell, while stating his strong support for the bill because "work release has a lot of value," said, "I have a little trouble understanding how a 20‑person program would work." He added, "If you don't have the critical mass, it's hard to maintain" because of the screening, interviewing and attrition that naturally occurs with such a program. Both men said that while their employment for transitional inmates is seasonal, they can utilize far more inmates than the 20 proposed. Work‑release programs, Bell explained, "take a commitment on the part of the employer and the corrections staff. We don't just go down to the corner with a van."
     Rep. Reckitt said the governor's proposal made her nervous. It reminded her of 17th century work houses where people were worked until "their fingers were blue."
     The DOC's desire to purchase an already existing property in the Machias area that could be renovated quickly was corroborated by Machias Town Manager Christina Therrien. "Over two years ago I was contacted about buildings." One such building the DOC was interested in was the former Navy call center on Route 1 that was designed as office space. "The feeling that I got was of a half‑way house."
     The governor and DOC had a number of conditions that they would want the legislature to meet before they would agree to the 20‑bed facility. They would want the statute that puts the DCF into state law repealed. Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias remarked on his social media page, "And irony of ironies, the governor's people are trying to get the legislature to repeal the statute that establishes DCF, meaning they have essentially admitted that they overstepped their authority to close it in [the] first place. Maybe that's a technicality, maybe not, but honestly, it did not go unnoticed."
     In addition, the DOC and governor's office would want the DCF facility sold and the authorization to purchase an already existing facility for renovation. The staffing would be "lean." However, when asked what that meant, Chadbourne replied that he would be happy to supply details if the project was authorized by the legislature. Because Chadbourne had said that the facility could be up and running by summer 2018, he was asked by a committee member if the sale of DCF would have to happen first. Chadbourne replied, "For the administration, closing and selling the DCF goes hand‑in‑hand with the new facility."
     Breaking down with emotion at one moment, Rep. Robert Alley of Beals said, "To end up with 20 beds is just ridiculous. ... We had 60 in the release program when they closed it down." He added, "We could very well have filled that building [DCF]" to its 149‑bed capacity. Washington County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald echoed Alley's sentiments. "You know we had a really good system, and I'm mystified." She added, "I'm pessimistic that the design we heard today would not be successful."