Maine Jail Goes Direct
The new jail in Somerset County ME operates under the Direct Supervision model.
Philip Roy, chairman of Somerset County commissioners said the new jail will house up to 215 inmates, including some state inmates if overflow elsewhere calls for such a move. Roy said it is not only a new jail, but that it uses a new concept in housing and managing prisoners called “direct supervision.” The “direct supervision” approach to inmate management involves placing one jail guard in a self-contained “pod area” with 64 or 65 low-risk inmates, Roy said. “Direct supervision is a totally different way of housing inmates,” he said. “You don’t need so many employees to run the facility. It’s a 65-to-one ratio.” In a more typical jail setting, he said, the guard stands outside the door watching. In the new Somerset County Jail, inmates and the guard will mill around together, he said. He said jail administrators elsewhere have found that direct supervision results in less violence among inmates and against staff, less property damage and lower construction and staff costs. It’s also intended to reduce tension and confrontations, while encouraging interaction between staff and inmates.
The jail also will house the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, an office for the bail bondsman, a room for firearms, laundry rooms for street clothing and inmate clothing, a library, indoor recreation yards, a medical unit and a large kitchen.
The full article in the Morning Sentinel has more local detail.
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