Dumphy was referring to the amount of money it costs to keep inmates in jail before they go to court. State Associate Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord was quoted in a Kennebec Journal article in August, saying, "Pretrial stays at county jails in Maine are two to three times longer than the national average. At a cost of $120 to $130 a day, it adds up."

Somerset County, like other county jails in Maine that are taking state prisoners, are experiencing budget short falls in revenue, and yet they are making mortgage payments on their facilities that benefit the entire state.

Dumphy said "Somerset County built a $28 million jail, leaving a debt service payment of $2.9 million per year. We built the jail with [the idea that] projected revenues gained from boarding the state and federal inmates [would help in] paying that annual debt. As the legislation stands today, that $2.9 million will have to be raised from taxpayers within the county, not from jail revenue."

York County is paying $2 million per year for their jail mortgage. Because of the jail consolidation law, the county now gets only $22 per day to board a prisoner, as opposed to the $85 per day the jail was getting before the law was passed – a loss of about $1.5 million in revenue.

York County Commissioners made their case in a letter to state representatives: "While the initial idea behind this consolidation was to save property taxpayers money, it clearly has not done that for York County. The bill simply allows a shifting of obligation to a different government level by attempting to alleviate some of the state’s financial difficulties. In pursuing this jail consolidation proposal, the state made unsubstantiated claims about the problems in county facilities. In reality though, it is the state-run facilities which experienced continuous overcrowding, under staffing and are financially irresponsible."

The Two Bridges Regional Jail, built to house Lincoln and Sagadahoc inmates, also has a debt of over $20 million that costs the taxpayers over $2 million, each year, just over $1 million from each county.

Two Bridges is also experiencing a revenue shortfall due to boarding cost reductions created by the consolidation law. The state is paying $22 per day per inmate, and the counties are paying $26.22 per day per inmate.

The consolidation law also has caused a problem for Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties in paying their fair share of the operating costs. The two counties, prior to the new law, had a cost sharing agreement based on inmate population from each county.

The budget cap set by the consolidation law results in Lincoln County paying 59 percent of the operating cost, and Sagadahoc County paying 41 percent, regardless of either county’s inmate population. Last year the inmate population from both counties was evenly divided. The law has no provision allowing the counties to make adjustments at the end of the year, as the cost sharing agreement allowed them to do.

State Board of Corrections Chairman, Neale Duffett, Deputy Commissioner of Corrections, met recently with representatives from both counties, to discuss the issue of cost sharing. Representatives from the two counties differ on how it should be handled.

Sagadahoc Commissioner Alan Houston and Sagadahoc Sheriff Joel Merry say the formula should not be changed, and that the state’s spending cap overrules the cost sharing agreement.

Lincoln County Commissioners Sheridan Bond and William Blodgett, and Sheriff Todd Brackett want to see the provisions of the cost sharing agreement followed, because adjustments can be made which reflect the number of inmates from each county.

Lord said during a telephone interview following the meeting with the Lincoln and Sagadahoc representatives, "We realize there is an issue. It would be very helpful if the two counties could agree on a resolution."