The commissioners from Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties plan to join forces with Cumberland, York and Somerset counties to fight Governor John Baldacci's proposal to take over the county jails.

Lincoln and Sagadahoc Commissioners met Tuesday afternoon to discuss what they could do get the word out as to what the takeover would do to the taxpayers of the state.

The commissioners decided to hire Attorney Daniel Walker, with the Preti Flaherty law firm, to represent the five counties in their pursuit to overturn the governor's proposal. The counties will meet with Walker some time next week to discuss what options are open.

"We have to be pro-active," Commissioner Sheridan Bond said. "We need to get the word out to the taxpayers and tell them this proposal is going to take more from them."

"It is a huge injustice, especially to the taxpayers," Sagadahoc Commissioner Lawrence Dawson said.

The proposed take over of the county jails by the state of Maine is not supported by county officials throughout the state, according to Lincoln County Commissioner William Blodgett.

One of the big issues is the fact the counties with a large debt incurred by building a new jail will continue to pay for the jail for the next 20 or more years, but the state will have ownership of the facility.

"How can the state do this?" Sagadahoc Commissioner Crispin Connery asked their attorney, Jamie Pitney. "Is there a conflict with the Maine Constitution?"

Pitney said private citizens are entitled to compensation for any property taken under eminent domain. However, county and state government do not have the same rights.

"We will have the burden of debt, without the benefit of assets," Connery said. "The state should take the liability along with the jails."

The Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties will be hurt more by the proposal because the state plans to make the Two Bridges Regional Jail into a Mental Health facility, which means the inmates from Lincoln and Sagdahoc's would have to be transported to other facilities.

Under the governor's 57 page proposal called "An act to Unify the County Jails and the State Corrections System," five county jails would close: Piscataquis, Franklin, Oxford, Kennebec and Waldo. The county jails being closed would have an option to contract with the state to maintain these sites as 72-hour holding facilities in order to accommodate local law enforcement needs and minimize transportation.

According to the Governor's plan the property tax assessment for jail expenditures is capped and will be collected annually by the state.

Blodgett told the commissioners one legislature can not commit another legislature to anything. The counties will have the additional expense of providing a holding facility for short-term detention areas.

The Lincoln/Sagadahoc Jail Authority owns about 70 acres of land on and near the jail site. The governor's proposal calls for the elimination of the jail authority. Therefore, the authority will look into the possibility of deeding the land back to the two counties. Should the governor's plan to take over the jails be successful, the commissioners do not want the land to go with it.

The commissioners will seek the support of the Maine Municipal Association.

"This proposed take over is a slap in the face by the state to all the volunteers that worked for eight years to promote and build this jail," Connery said.

"The citizens of Maine must be told at what cost this proposal will be to them," Bond said. "They must write their legislators and advise them not to approve the governor's proposal. We can't sit back and just let it happen."