A move by Maine corrections officials to set up a public online d...
A move by Maine corrections officials to set up a public online database of state prison inmates hit a bump in the legislature. The Department of Corrections was working on the database when state Rep. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, chairman…
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of the joint Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, objected Tuesday that the project began without his panel’s involvement. The department wanted a public inmate database to keep crime victims and police agencies abreast of parole status, release dates and other information and to give inmates families a way to send money for payphone calls and other prepaid expenses. Gerzofsky questioned whether Maine needs such a database, voicing concern that it could trigger litigation such as has dogged the state’s sex offender registry. Associate Corrections Commissioner Denise Lord said her agency’s work was in very preliminary stages, adding that she had planned to seek guidance from Gerzofsky’s committee once the department knew better how the site would operate. She said the site would offer material from the public record organized for easy searching. She said 40 states offer online access to prison inmate information, 23 of which include information about former inmates on parole.