Commission to discuss construction of new Aroostook prison with four new members

CARIBOU, Maine – August 20, 2024 – Aroostook County Commissioners (left to right) Paul Underwood, Norman Fournier and William Dobbins voted Tuesday to appoint new members to the Prison Commission. (Melissa Lizotte | Aroostook Republican)

CARIBOU, Maine – A commission reviewing options for a possible new county jail is bringing perspectives from the region’s legal, municipal and social work communities.

On Tuesday, county commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins, Aroostook County Action Program Director Heidi Rackliffe, Houlton City Manager Jeremy Smith and Caribou City Manager Penny Thompson to the jail commission created this year.

The Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, built in 1889, was last renovated 40 years ago. Now architects with the National Institute of Corrections are urging county officials to consider building a new jail. The jail, which is licensed to hold 117 inmates, is constantly near or at capacity and lacks adequate space for programs designed to help inmates reintegrate into society, consultants with the National Institute of Corrections said in a written report.

The consultants also recommended that the prison commission should include more members than just police officers, which led County Administrator Ryan Pelletier to recommend Collins, Rackliffe, Smith and Thompson.

On Monday, the prison commission discussed whether Toby Jandreau, district defender for Maine's Rural Defender Unit, could be nominated along with the four candidates approved by the commission, but ultimately recommended keeping the committee at 13 voting members. Before Tuesday's vote, there were nine members.

“We do not want too many overlaps in [community] Service areas and we want to have as many regions as possible [of the county] presented as best as possible,” Pelletier said on Tuesday.

The Prison Commission will hold its next meeting in October after its members, prison staff and county commissioners attend a training on new facility planning hosted by the National Institute of Corrections. The training will discuss the steps the county should take when planning a new prison.

The commission members agreed not to engage an architectural consultant or discuss possible locations for a new prison until after attending this training.