Maine

The Maine Department of Corrections (Maine DOC) runs the state’s six adult correctional facilities and supervises people on probation and parole. It is a small system — about 2,070 people were incarcerated statewide in early 2026 — and the department refers to people in its custody as residents. Maine DOC describes its approach as the “Maine Model of Corrections,” built around normalization, person-first language, and reduced use of restrictive housing; by its own January 2026 data, fewer than one percent of residents were in administrative segregation.

Where a person is held depends on custody level and sex. Men at higher custody levels are at the Maine State Prison in Warren. Most men, and all women, pass through the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, the system’s primary reception and classification facility. Men are also held at Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston and at two minimum-security work-release facilities, Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren and Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport. Women are held at the Women’s Center, a unit inside the Maine Correctional Center, and at the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center, a minimum-security facility also in Windham — so every state-sentenced woman is in Windham. The few men who cannot be received at the Maine Correctional Center are received at the Maine State Prison instead.

Maine splits custody by sentence length. A term of more than nine months is served in a Maine DOC state facility; a term of nine months or less — and most detention before trial — is served in one of the state’s 15 county jails, each run by a sheriff who sets that jail’s own visiting, mail, phone, and money rules. To find where a specific person is held, search the Maine DOC Adult Resident Search by name; it covers state DOC custody only, so someone who does not appear there is likely in a county jail (or has been released). Maine identifies each resident by an MDOC number, which families need for mail, deposits, and most other steps. Use the guides below for the statewide rules at Maine DOC facilities, or go straight to a specific facility.