Members of the regional jail authority recognized Captain James Bailey for 10 years of continuous service at Two Bridges Regional Jail during their Wednesday, Aug. 12 meeting.

Bailey, who has worked in corrections for 15 years, started his career after a friend in law enforcement encouraged him. Over the past decade and a half, he has worked at the Kennebec County Jail and the old Lincoln County Jail before coming to Two Bridges Regional Jail.

“I started working at Two Bridges when they were pouring the concrete floor,” he said, and explained that he served on the transition team from the old jail. 

Asked about the challenges of corrections work, he explained that “every day is different, and you are dealing with potentially violent people every day.”

Because of the nature of their work, corrections officers are trained for four weeks with an additional two weeks in the field. Every year, they attend 40 additional hours of training. When asked what has changed since he began his career, Bailey noted that the majority of people coming into jail now are there because of substance-related crimes.

“Whether alcohol or drugs, there is some sort of addiction,” he explained.

TBRJ accepts prisoners from other counties and from the state and federal governments. Bailey pointed out that no matter where they are from, all the prisoners are treated the same. When he speaks to incoming officers about the realities of corrections work, he advises them to “forget everything you think it is, because something new happens every day.”

Budget and pricing

Authority members are still trying to determine exactly how much money the jail will receive under recently enacted laws. Among the information to be processed is a tally of “bed days” from all of the county jails, so that the state’s $12.2 million in corrections funding can be apportioned to the jails.

Also under discussion was setting the rate for county jails that wish to send prisoners to TBRJ. The jail authority has entered into a $1.2 million agreement with Waldo County for its prisoners, but no amounts have been set for other sending jails. The question arose about a shorter term agreement with other sending jails and discussion followed with various suggestions.

Reached after the meeting for comment, authority chairman Mark Waltz said that he was “happy to see the variety of viewpoints between the two counties.”

“Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties will continue to work together,” to resolve the financial issues, he said.