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Lisa Meyer
Marketing & Client Relations Director
Preti Flaherty
lmeyer@preti.com

Joint Jail Authority to Launch First in the State Project

The Lincoln and Sagadahoc Jail Authority (LISA) today announced it has engaged the law firm Preti Flaherty to help it undertake the necessary steps to create a new regional jail servicing both counties, scheduled to open in 2006. Attorneys with Preti Flaherty are assisting LISA with legal issues surrounding construction and staffing of the facility.
Voters in Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties last year authorized construction of the $24.6 million, 120-bed jail to be built in Wiscasset.  The 12-member Jail Authority oversees operations and sets policy for the facility, which is the first of its kind in Maine.

“Preti Flaherty brings us a track-record of professionalism and expertise that will move this project to the next level,” said Sagadahoc County Sheriff and Authority Chair Mark Westrum. “I strongly believe the new facility will allow our law enforcement and corrections officials to spend more time on correcting inmate behavior rather than warehousing inmates. That in turn should lead to fewer repeat offenders and most importantly for our communities, fewer victims of crime.”

Sagadahoc County does not have a jail, and has been renting space from Kennebec and Cumberland Counties, while Lincoln County’s jail has reached critical mass, exceeding its capacity since 1985 when it opened. Approximately 75% of the jail population participate in such programs as anger management, substance abuse, mental health, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Sagadahoc County contracts with Volunteers of America to provide a wide range of diversion programs designed to allow an alternative to incarceration. All of the programs offered by intended to reduce the number of repeat offenders yet are jeopardized by overcrowded conditions.