The Corrections Division of the County of Waldo's Office of the Sheriff has provided for the safe incarceration of the County's inmates through out the years. In late 2007 Governor Baldacci stated a desire for a combined State and County Correctional system. This announcement resulted in negotiations between the State and County agencies. The resulting legislation, LD 2080, An Act to Better Coordinate and Reduce the Cost of the Delivery of State and County Correctional Services, resulted in the creation of the Board of Corrections. For a history and description of the Board of Corrections please follow this link http://www.state.me.us/corrections/BOC/index.shtml.

As a result of the work of the Board of Corrections and its many sub-committees and the subsequent review of the current mission of each jail the decision was made that the Waldo County Correctional Center would experience a mission change. For many years the Waldo County Correctional Center has served Waldo County as a full service facility housing pretrial and sentenced County inmates. In the future the Waldo County Correctional Facility will be transformed into a dual purpose facility. The facility will maintain a 72 hour holding facility to accommodate new arrest and court commitments. Longterm housing of the inmate population beyond 72 hours will be handled at other correctional facilities. Currently Waldo County inmates held beyond 72 hours will be transferred to Two Bridges Regional Jail (TBRJ) in Wiscasset, Maine. For information regarding TBRJ please follow the link to their website at http://www.tbrj.org/ or call 207-882-4268.

The second part of the transformation is the creation of the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center (MCRRC). The Reentry Center will serve the Correctional Region known as the Coastal Region consisting of Washington, Hancock, Waldo, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc Counties. The purpose of the new mission is to successfully integrate State and County inmates back into the communities in which they're returning. These inmates would be near the completion of their sentence and would receive intensive treatment designed to reduce recidivism rates.

See the handy work of the members of MCRRC via the County of Waldo's Garden Project. Watch the interview here and follow this link WLBZ2.com Garden Project Video.