The Piscataquis County Jail has resumed intakes after the state restricted its operations following a failed inspection report.
The Maine Department of Corrections ordered the facility last week to stop taking in new inmates and transfer anyone it was holding for other jails back to those facilities. On Thursday, jail officials submitted their plan to correct several health and record-keeping violations.
State officials approved that plan and, as of Monday, the facility had returned to accepting new inmates. It is not, however, taking inmates from other jails until it’s clear the plan is being followed, Sheriff Robert Young said in a statement emailed Monday.
The state’s July inspection report highlighted “systemic gaps” in the jail’s health care practices and missing records, as well as out-of-date routine assessments in the facility. Young’s letter to the Maine Department of Corrections, which he provided to the Press Herald on Monday, detailed efforts jail staff are taking to address the list of violations.
The facility has a capacity of 38 and averages 25 people in custody per day, according to the county’s website. Young has said the small jail, with “employees who wear multiple hats,” struggled to keep up with state standards while jail staff were also working to become compliant with the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
State officials flagged the jail for inaccurately counting and administering medication. Young noted in the letter that the jail has budgeted for new positions “to assist with compliance and other admin duties,” including $52,800 for a Certified Medical Assistant and $35,000 for a part-time assistant for the jail administrator.
“We have operated on the same system for decades, but with the increase in (medication-assisted treatment) and greater complexity with medications, we recognize the need to change,” Young wrote in the letter.
Inspectors also accused jail staff of not properly following protocols for an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness, which Young said he disputed as a violation.
Eight patients were treated for food poisoning from chicken patties in July 2024, according to the sheriff. He noted in the letter that the jail followed Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and notified the state Department of Health and Human Services to have the food samples tested. The jail has now documented its steps for state officials to view, he said in the letter.
The state inspection report also revealed that the jail has been improperly and inconsistently logging documents between its records-management systems. Young told state officials that medical records and other documents that were unavailable during the July inspection are in the process of being duplicated and digitized for state officials to view.
The compliance officer from the Washington County Jail is also assisting jail staff in setting up the folders and creating a policy so this can be regular practice, Young said.
“We have the data system ability to do this, so we anticipate that by the end of next week our officers will be trained and implementing this,” he wrote in the letter.
