State threatens to close Piscataquis County Jail if it doesn’t fix inspection violations

By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County must stop taking inmates at its jail and move boarded inmates to their original facilities after the jail failed an inspection last month.

The Maine Department of Corrections made the order after an inspection of the Dover-Foxcroft jail on July 21 and 22 where officials found a number of unspecified violations that Commissioner Randall Liberty said “constitute a danger to the health and safety of the staff, inmates, and/or visitors.”

Along with ordering the county to immediately cease all new intakes and return boarded inmates to their original facility, Liberty said officials must send the state “a plan of corrective action,” by no later than 3 p.m. Friday. 

“If the county doesn’t correct the violations the Commissioner will revoke the facility’s operating license and establish a process to transfer the jail’s population,” Liberty said.

The inspection “revealed non-compliance with 11 mandatory standards. MDOC was unable to review nine other mandatory standards due to lack of documentation. The jail also failed one essential standard, and MDOC was unable to review 61 others due to lack of documentation,” Liberty said in a news release.

That inspection was originally scheduled for May 27-28, but the state granted an extension at the request of the jail administrator “noting the need for additional time to prepare,” Liberty said.

The jail currently has 37 inmates according to a sergeant who answered the phone there.

Piscataquis County Jail Administrator Jean Larson could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon.