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An Act Regarding County Jails
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 34-A MRSA §1805, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 391, §15, is further amended to read:
 
B. Any net county assessment revenue in excess of county jail expenditures in counties where changes in jail operations pursuant to board directives under section 1803 have reduced jail expenses. Any net revenue in excess of county or regional jail expenditures resulting from efficienciesreduced jail expenditures generated by the independent actions of a county or regional jail remains with the county's or regional jail authority's correctional services fund balance or may be dedicated to the retirement of county jail debt pursuant to Title 30-A, section 701, subsection 2-B;
Sec. 2. 34-A MRSA §1806, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 653, Pt. A, §30, is amended to read:
 
4. Authority to deviate from percent distribution.   Notwithstanding subsection 3, the board may alter the percent distribution to a county based on a substantial change in the nature or extent of correctional services provided by that county. The board may not reduce the percent distribution to a county if the change to the correctional services in that county is the result of reduced county jail expenditures resulting from efficiencies generated by the actions of the county.
 
SUMMARY
This bill allows the county jails to apply savings from the county's correctional budget to jail debt service without a reduction in payments from the State Board of Corrections.