The governor's far-reaching plans to merge the county jails into the state prison system to save money have been modified into a compromise proposal that caps at just over $60 million statewide the amount property taxpayers have to kick in locally to support the jail system.

That proposal, which was supported by the Criminal Justice Committee in a 12-to-1 vote, likely will be voted on by the full Legislature later this week or early next.

Under the plan, any amount over $60 million, which represents current jail costs, would be picked up by the state.

As a tradeoff to the state picking up the additional tabs, any future jail expansions or increases in county jail budgets that exceed a predetermined growth rate would have to be approved by a state Board of Corrections, made up of members from the county, state and municipal governments and the general public.

That board also would recommend which jails should close or be converted to other uses, like pre-trial holding facilities and which would house a facility to treat inmates with mental illness.

Under a unified system, there would be a point person to help coordinate the use of jail beds to relieve overcrowding in the state prison system and the transportation of county inmates to court and back - all in the name of saving money.

Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Cumber-land, the Senate chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, praised the work that has gone into the proposal since January when the county sheriffs and commissioners sat down with the Department of Corrections to work out a compromise.

"What struck me most was the work ethic and the commitment to do what was right," Diamond said, even though both sides had to give up something.

"This is a good bill," he said, but "This is only the first step."

The next hurdle will be convincing the full Legislature to support it.

One potential stumbling block is whether the proposal will need a two-thirds vote if it is determined the bill represents a state mandate on cities and towns. As of Monday that was still being negotiated.

Comfort level with the proposal has been a long time coming since Gov. John Baldacci announced a dramatic reorganization plan last year that called for the state Department of Corrections to take over the county jail system, close five jails and lay off more than 100 county employees. It also designated part of the new Two Bridges Jail, serving Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, as a regional mental health facility for county prisoners.

The compromise plan now leaves those kinds of decisions in the hands of the new, nine-member Board of Corrections.

A second wave of concern came up last month when a proposal was floated that would have redistributed $10 million in debt payments now being paid by 10 counties over all 16 counties. That debt service is paying for newly built or expanded facilities.

The Criminal Justice Committee voted to keep existing debt service with the counties that incurred it.

Any new debt, which would have to be approved by the Board of Corrections, would be picked up by the state.

Money to pay for such improvements would be held in a capital investment fund that would include money saved by counties through greater efficiencies.

Another sticking point that was worked out with the help of the governor's office was restoring the full $5.6 million counties now receive in return for their help in housing prisoners that once would have served time in state facilities. All but $1 million of that cut was restored in the supplemental budget passed last week, and the governor's office has now committed to finding the rest.