As of Jan. 1, 2026 the Knox County Jail’s is working with the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Regional Jail Authority, which operates Two Bridges Regional Jail, in Wiscasset. Knox County is now sending prisoners to be housed at Two Bridges to save money.

The partnership allows Knox County to house its longterm inmates at Two Bridges, as well as receive many of the amenities offered through the Wiscasset facility. The Knox County Jail, in Rockland, will continue operating as a 72-hour holding facility. Because of this new partnership, many changes have occurred at the Rockland jail, some reversible in the future, some irreversible.

The one year contract is for Jan. 1, 2026 – Jan. 1, 2027, yet some inmates with higher needs were moved over before Christmas.

For this year, Knox County taxpayers will pay roughly half of the $7 million needed to keep operations underway at the Rockland jail for another year, using last year’s budget, due to a shortage of budget committee members for this new year.

The lower one-year rate, $3,521,400, will bring incremental relief to Knox County taxpayers burdened by increased property taxes. But, the partnership contract is currently only for one year, and is available in part because Two Bridges has the space to house more incarcerated people.

At the moment, Knox County and the Sheriff’s Office have no other option and are grateful to Two Bridges, said Knox County Sheriff Pat Polky, in a Jan. 15 conversation.

The past year has been challenging, he said, as Corrections administrators watch aging infrastructure further deteriorate, budgets forestall due to issues with the Knox County Budget Committee not having enough members, and the exit of employees and services the Knox County Jail has fought hard to retain over recent years. 

Polky elaborated that following many years of job vacancies, the jail had finally reached a full employee roster — all of whom he praised.

But with the prisoner population relocation to Two Bridges, the staff list has reduced from 41 to 19.

Polky wants the Knox County Jail in Rockland to return to full operation in the future as a way to maintain local and familiar control in an everchanging world. Yet, he now wonders if the employees would return when, and if, the jail again houses the incarcertated.

Many of the corrections officers and security officers have moved to other jails, with several now working for Two Bridges. Some have made career changes. One found the timing a good opportunity to return home to another state, and one has health issues.

Lost also in the shuffle is the non-calculable assistance in the kitchen, laundry, and groundskeeping by inmates working toward good behavior points. With inmates no longer there for a good chunk of time, the extra help to staff has disappeared. 

Jail condition

Polky said that according to observations included in a consultant report that is currently in draft form, the jail's condition itself could house prisoners for 15-25 more years. That report, developed SMRT, will be delivered to the Knox County Commissioners for review in the near future.

But the jail needs regular maintenance. The roof needs to be repaired. The electrical system is from the 1990s and must be replaced (newer device systems are incompatible with the old system). Floor tiles need to be fixed.

Maintenance estimates are now pegged at approximately $1.5 million per year. The good news, according to Polky, is that the SMRT Inc. review found the facility to be in better condition than reviewers expected.

Knox County Corrections Department has watched the aging infrastructure for years, according to Polky. It was hoped there would be a few more years to develop a plan, educate the public, create a community committee and propose a bond.

Going forward, many have asked for a specific overall budget number that can be used as a target point. Polky likes to look for trends in such categories as electricity, sewer, water, food consumption, entries and exits. Most numbers don't exist, because the jail has never had to answer such questions.

“We know how many people get arrested every day,” he said. “But we’ve never really assessed how many actually just stay. And for how long."

But, it doesn't really matter; there aren’t any trends, he said. Jail traffic is consistently inconsistent.

“We have days that there are zero arrests,” he said. “But then we have days when there are 28 arrests….there could be a big bar fight and they arrested everyone. You’ve got to be staffed to be responding to the service demand. You can’t be understaffed and then all of a sudden need the service."

An example being one time around Christmas, suddenly only one guard was working at the jail. All of the other guards on duty were at the hospital because four medical emergencies occurred at the same time. And then, sometimes one inmate requires the atttendance of two officers.

Other Changes

Suspended is the local medical care for the Rockland facility which, until now, held inmates for upwards of nine months. A lengthy medical checklist is filled out when a person in custody enters the Knox County Jail, requiring arresting officers to remain at the jail longer.

If the person is not medically “fit for incarceration,” the arresting officer must take the arrested to the hospital and stay there until the arrested is declared fit to be at the jail (for example, a broken arm or thoughts of self-harm). On the other hand, Two Bridges has medical staff, and as soon as local police sign paperwork notarizing a statement of probable cause, or a sentence has been handed down, inmates can be transported to Two Bridges, where staff can meet higher needs.

Now that the Rockland jail is a 72-hour or less holding facility, the cost of doing laundry has been reduced significantly, with Two Bridges picking up the task. The Rockland jail is only required to wash an inmate’s items every three days and those inmates are provided with two sets of clothing, plus bedding.

The kitchen is no longer in use. The jail is required to produce three meals a day, although if someone is brought in during off hours and appears to be starving, a snack will be provided. The three meals per day are now coming from Two Bridges in the form of bag lunches, with allergies taken into consideration, added Polky.

Suspended is the partnership with RSU 13 for HiSet (formerly GED) and other education resources. Though the jail is licensed to house inmates for up to nine months post sentencing, a person could be in the facility for much longer if still in pre-trial waiting period. This could be for suspected murderers or offenders of other heinous crimes.

And visitors are no longer allowed entrance during intake. Staff have found that visitation during the first few days of a person’s incarceration can be ripe with intense emotions triggered by people in their lives. Phone calls, free of charge, are still allowed, though some calls might be supervised since it is not uncommon for an incarcerated person calling around asking for bail money to explode in anger if given an unfavorable response, said Polky.

Inmates will also be able to obtain jail-owned devices such as iPads, and, with fees for the inmate, coordinate teleconference calls with family.

If families do not have their own devices, they are welcome to use a monitor at the Rockland jail, said Polky. In the future, the Rockland jail may organize scheduled transportation for families wanting to go directly to Wiscasset but don’t have other transportation options.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com