This year's Corrections Officer of the Year hails from Dresden, Maine. Cpl. Aaron Smith will officially receive the honor on Thursday, April 9 during the 2026 Maine Sheriff's Association Spring Conference at Sunday River.

Smith, 45, is a 17-year corrections officer, all at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. His introduction to a career in corrections came during his tenure at Lowe's in Brunswick. Smith had worked several years in retail and worked his way into a management position at Lowe's. 

One day, a TBRJ official entered the store and began talking to Smith about his career ambitions. 

"He asked me if I liked my job, and I answered 'Well, yes, it's a job,'" Smith recalled. The conversation veered into Smith's potential interest in becoming a corrections officer. "I had a day off the next day. So I went and did the physical training, and a couple months later I started my career as a corrections officer."

In 2015, Smith was promoted to corporal. Smith has been the jail's intake supervisor for the past 10 years. His duties include recordkeeping, booking and releasing inmates, tracking fingerprinting and serving as a liaison between other prisons. TBRJ has a significant population of inmates from Penobscot and Knox counties and federal inmates. "I'm in charge of determining if someone is appropriate to be housed here," Smith said. "I'm pretty well-known around the state because I talk to everybody about our availability."

When asked why he was nominated for Corrections Officer of the Year, Smith said, "I don't know. No one ever told me."

He was nominated by Correctional Administrator Col. James Bailey, Lincoln County Chief Deputy Rand Maker and Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jason Warlick. In his nomination letter, Col. Bailey wrote: "Cpl. Smith is especially noteworthy for his ability to balance security needs with compassion and respect. He treats inmates with fairness and dignity while maintaining firm control of the housing population. His calm demeanor and effective communication skills often de-escalates tense situations, reducing the risk of incidents  and contributing to a safer environment for staff and inmates alike." 

Smith said his years in retail helped prepare him for his corrections officer career. "The best thing about that was it teaches you how to talk to people," he said. "You learn to filter things out when listening. I use those skills every day."

His advice to new corrections officers is "always tell the truth." That is an essential quality in any corrections officer, he said. "Be honest. If you don't have an answer tell them you will find out. If you're not honest then you will never earn their respect."