ME DOC - Central Maine Pre-Release Center

ME DOC - Central Maine Pre-Release Center basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 207-287-3035

The inmates housed at Central Maine Pre-Release located at 1 Stevens St in Hallowell, ME are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

The Central Maine Pre-Release Center opened in Hallowell in 1979, on the grounds of the former Stevens School complex, under the jurisdiction of the then Department of Mental Health and Corrections. The DOC continues to work very closely with the Hallowell Citizens Advisory Group who were included in the original planning process for this pre-release facility.

To date, the Department still upholds its pledge that sex offenders who have been convicted of a crime against a "stranger" will not be housed at the CMPRC.

Prisoners at this unit participate in public restitution work crews and a work release program. The public restitution program has provided approximately 22,000 man hours of free labor annually to citizens of the greater Kennebec County region. The facility is also the site for phase 2 of the Departments' residential substance abuse treatment program (Transitional Therapeutic Program).

The facility, in conjunction with S.A.D. 16, Adult Education, also offers approximately 50 hours of educational classes to the inmate population each week.

Central Maine Pre-Release Center has developed a crime prevention program, which is designed for presentations in the public schools and other similar forums. The primary focal points of the Right Choices Program are substance abuse and anger related issues. The prisoners' message to the students is a simple one: learn to make better choices by being made aware of the consequences of our poor choices.

Probation Services

Probation is a court-ordered term of community supervision with specified conditions for a determinant period of time that cannot exceed the maximum sentence for the offense. It is imposed on an adjudicated offender who is placed under supervision in lieu of or subsequent to incarceration, with a requirement to comply with certain standards of conduct. The probationer is required to abide by all conditions ordered by the court. Violation of these conditions may result in revocation by the court and imposition of an underlying sentence which was imposed at the time the offender was sentenced to probation. The probationer is generally required to pay the cost of supervision to the State of Maine, and may have additional conditions requiring payment of restitution, court costs and fines, public service, various types of treatment.

The probationer is usually required to visit his/her supervising officer in the local field office at intervals related to their risk of re-offending as measured by a risk/need assessment tool. If the probationer's assessment places him/her in the higher risk of re-offending classifications, the officer will contact the offender at his/her home and place of employment in addition to maintaining contact with service providers and other community members.