ALFRED — A year or so ago, when the consolidated county jail system, overseen by the State Board of Corrections, was in crisis, York County Commissioners said they’d prefer that the state’s 15 county jails be returned to the counties. But they agreed at the time they’d support a newly reconstituted State Board of Corrections if it were given some new authority.

But the consolidated system remains broken, commissioners agreed Wednesday. The five-member Board of Corrections has just two members ”“ and Gov. Paul LePage has said he won’t fill the three vacancies. As well, one of two paid staffers has left and the second, Executive Director Ryan Thornell, is leaving at the end of the month. And the system statewide needs an injection of $2.5 million to stay afloat.

So once again, York County Commissioners are looking for the jails to be returned to the counties, as long as the state agrees that the mechanisms in place for generating revenue before the 2008 consolidation are restored, they said Wednesday.

“Just put it back the way it was, and let us move forward,” said Commissioner Gary Sinden.

Commissioner Richard Dutremble pointed out that in 2008, York County was the only county that objected to the consolidation and was labeled as a “renegade” because of it.

In an interview late last week, York County Manager Greg Zinser said York County has had to dip into its own jail operating funds to finance repairs to the York County Jail’s heating system, which means they’ll be running an operating deficit come the end of the fiscal year. The county financed the heating system repairs because the state has never funded a capital plan for the consolidated system.

The Board of Corrections is lobbying the state Legislature for $2.5 million in emergency funding ”“ money the board says is needed to avoid furloughing inmates, according to the Associated Press.

Former Gov. John Baldacci consolidated the jail system in 2008 in a bid, he said at the time, to reduce county spending. York County officials disagreed with that reasoning, saying the takeover was a thinly veiled attempt to solve a state financial problem. But the system was created, with each county’s contribution to jail operations capped through legislation.

The York County government’s contribution to its jail operating cost is capped at $8.3 million annually. The overall jail operating cost last year was about $10.1 million, estimated York County Jail Superintendent Michael B. Vitiello. With contributions from the Community Corrections Act totaling about $625,000, that leaves a gap of about $1.1 million.

So far, the state has bridged that gap, making its quarterly operating payments, though there have been some worries about whether that would happen. And Zinser said he has been told that the BOC approved third- and fourth-quarter payments before the third BOC member quit.

Before consolidation, counties charged fees to other counties and the state prisons to board their prisoners and received revenue from a number of other sources: recouping medical co-pays from inmates, judicial surcharges, federal grants designed to offset the costs to local jurisdictions for housing foreign-born nationals and more. The cost to house an inmate for a 24-hour day works out to between $75 and $85 dollars, Zinser estimated. He pointed out that in 2005, the county earned $1.5 million in prisoner board; it earned $2.1 million in 2006 and $1.8 million in 2007.

If the jails were to return to the counties, Zinser said, some money could be recouped through prisoner board, but he pointed out that York County itself generates many more inmates than it did in the middle of the last decade. That means unless a jail unit that is currently closed is reopened, the county would be unlikely to generate as much revenue in prisoner board as it has in the past because of the lack of space.

Newly elected York County Sheriff Bill King said he agrees “wholeheartedly” with the commissioner’s stance.

There are apparently a trio of bills before the Legislature addressing the county jail situation. Zinser told commissioners he’ll put together some information for the York County Legislative Delegation and invite legislators to tour the jail.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].