Randall A. Liberty, Warden, Maine State Prison, retired Kennebec County sheriff and Command Sargeant Major, US Army (RET)
George Abendroth would like to hear from committee chairs with a list of their members. He also announced that Ken Gardiner married his office administrator last weekend and is probably hiring!
Our speaker has been in law enforcement for about 36 years. He was a soldier in active duty and guard and got involved in corrections in 1984. He was in mountain infantry and became a drill sargent and taught military science at West Point, and served in Iraq. He developed a deep appreciation for the marines, and worked in several police departments, finally in Kennebec County for 26 years, and now as warden sees some of the offenders he was involved in prosecuting. The public safety mission of the prison includes rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. The leading causes of incarceration are substance abuse, mental health, learning disabilities, poverty and neglect. An $800 a day addiction problem drives addicts to steal, and they end up in jail. The de-funding of community mental health programs has resulted in the jails becoming defacto mental health resources. His own father got his GED at the Thomaston prison, an example of under-education resulting in criminal behavior and incarceration. Poverty results in many having trauma, and resulting behavior that can lead to incarceration.
Maine has the lowest percentage of incarcerated adults in the US, 132 per 100,000. 50 juveniles are incarcerated at Long Creek Youth Development. 11 inmates are in Restrictive Housing, which is the lowest percentage of inmates in the nation.
There are about 300 staff with over 1,000 inmates at the Warren facility, which has been open since 2001 after the closure of the Thomaston prison that was established in 1824. The cost of incarceration per inmate is about $42,000.
He believes strongly in partnerships with community stakeholders, innovated use of best practices, creating clear success for offenders and unity of vision.
He talked about Doris Buffett's $2M gift to help former inmates get a college degree through University of Maine at Augusta, which reduces recidivism significantly. They also teach mindful meditation and yoga and certifying yoga instructors. They also do artwork and have it displayed at Kathryn Matlack's Art Loft, which is therapeutic. As a military and law enforcement PTSD sufferer himself, he appreciates the Veterans Pod to help those inmates, and Restorative Justice work within the prison, as well as a Recovery Pod.
The prison has a Liberation Program, Hospice, Agriculture through cooperative extension where they teach a master gardener program and a recycling program.
Planning includes vocational development, including vocational/tech school collaboration in welding, agriculture, warehouse operations, culinary arts and digital arts. His vision is to spend less money through rehabilitation for the long term, instead of costly incarceration and recidivism during a lifetime.
New songbooks have been ordered with 12 new songs and will be available soon.
Ron Hall is having back problems, and seeing a neurosurgeon on Friday, keep him in your thoughts.
Kim Milton spoke about Camden National's Leaders and Luminaries program, and invited people to speak with Mary Sargent if you think a member of the board should be nominated.
Snowbowl parking for this weekend looks good, check with Steve Dailey if you're not sure what time you signed up to cover. Bruce Peel said the Chili Challenge needs just a few more volunteers for Saturday.
Next week's speaker is Chris Finn from Storm Warriors International.