1202 Dover Road Charleston, ME 04422 (207) 285-0800
Charleston Correctional Facility is a community-based correctional environment comprised of a dedicated team of professionals who promote public safety, preserve the rights of victims, fulfill the mandates of the criminal justice system, instill into the prisoners a real-world work ethic, and address the individual needs of the adult prisoner to positively affect his reintegration to society.
The Charleston Correctional Facility is located on the site of the former Charleston Air Force Station in Charleston, Maine. The facility opened with about 30 prisoners under the administrative control of the Maine Correctional Center in 1980.
Between 1981 and 1985 a second dorm was opened which brought the facility prisoner count to 62. Then in 1985 a third dorm was opened which increased the prisoner population to 93 prisoners. This was the year the facility split away from the Maine Correctional Center and assumed primary responsibility for its own development and operation. In 1990 the State’s prisoner population was in a growth pattern which resulted in a new “bat wing dorm” being constructed. The facility count was then increased to 143. During the next 9 years our prisoner population grew to 180+ with four dormitories open.
In 1999 the facility became a co-correctional facility in order to house a segment of the rapidly expanding minimum security female prisoner population. One dormitory was closed and the facility’s population was adjusted to 131 male and 32 female prisoners.
In 2001 during a major restructuring of the Maine Department of Corrections the facility was downsized. The female population was moved to new housing at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham and the male population was cut back to 75 with an overcrowd count of 95.
Charleston Correctional Facility is a working facility; as such all our staff place a great deal of emphasis on assuring a real-world work ethic is taught and modeled at all times. Our facility has consistently been a leader in all areas of minimum/community security corrections.
Prisoners housed at Charleston Correctional Facility have the opportunity to make significant strides toward self-improvement. The prisoners are afforded the opportunity to improve their life skills, employability and self-knowledge through vocational training, community restitution programming, academics, counseling programs and a unique work release program, all of which assist the prisoner in a positive reintegration to the greater community.
Population Capacity: 75 (OC 95) Custody Level of Prisoners: Minimum/Community rated prisoners with less than 5 years remaining on their sentences Number of Staff:
124 prisoners were admitted to Charleston Correctional Facility in 2005. 127 prisoners were released from Charleston Correctional Facility in 2005.
Charleston Correctional Facility is a working facility; as such, all our staff place a great deal of emphasis on assuring a real-world work ethic is taught and modeled at all times. Our facility has consistently been a leader in all areas of minimum/community security corrections.
All Charleston Correctional Facility prisoners are encouraged to pursue educational goals and use the resources of the Education Department. The facility’s classification team thoroughly reviews each and every prisoner file to ensure proper programming recommendations and placements are made. The state-certified school teacher manages the school department, which includes, in part, GED preparation classes, a business education program and a small but extensive library.
The Charleston Correctional Facility work release program is a unique program due to the fact we require the employer to supply transportation to and from work for those prisoners that are employed. There are currently a maximum of 14 prisoners allowed to be on actual work release at any given time. Prisoners continue to be housed at Charleston Correctional Facility while on the work release program, and are expected to pay room and board, as well as make payments on any fines, restitution, and/or child support they might owe. The maximum duration of this program is six months actual time on the program.
Prisoners assigned to the Woodshop Industry Program are exposed to a large variety of building and furniture making skills. Prisoners craft high quality hardwood furniture which is sold to other state institutions.
The prisoners also manufacture many wooden craft items, as well as unique furniture for the home. Also, prisoners in this program construct several styles of custom-ordered small buildings.
Prisoners assigned to the Sawmill Industry Program are instructed in all aspects of the art of creating quality lumber from soft and hardwood logs. There is a very strong emphasis on safety. Sawn lumber is kiln-dried in our two professional grade kilns. The lumber is dried to the appropriate specifications and is sold to numerous state agencies at a substantial savings. Our customer list includes the Maine State Prison, Maine Correctional Center, Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife, and the Maine Department of Transportation, among others.
A major benefit of the Industry Program is that it is self-funded. Profits from the sale of industry goods and lumber are utilized to pay a nominal wage to prisoners working in the Industry program, and are also utilized to entirely fund the salaries of the three Charleston Correctional Facility employees assigned to the programs.
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