Does Maine have any private prisons? | Fact brief

Maine’s correctional system is run by the state and has no private prisons.

Maine’s eight correctional facilities are all state-operated; there are no facilities operated by private corporations. Official listings of Maine Department of Corrections facilities show seven state-run prisons and Long Creek Youth Development Center, the state’s lone juvenile correctional facility.

Nonpartisan government data resource USAFacts says Maine is one of 22 states that rely solely on publicly operated prisons.

In New England, only Vermont and Connecticut have private prisons housing a small share of prisoners in those states — 8.1% and 4.3%, respectively, as of 2022.

Maine lawmakers have previously rejected bills to explicitly promote or prohibit private prisons. In 2012, they voted against a bill, LD 1095, that would have facilitated their creation and use in Maine.

In 2017, lawmakers rejected a bill, LD 1296, that would have banned the privatization of state correctional facilities and forensic hospitals in Maine.