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State Reform Profile

Maine

Maine has one of the lowest incarceration rates nationally and has decriminalized marijuana and expanded reentry support.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE82/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
152
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$46K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
52%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
3.1×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
21
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
7
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

ME Overall152
National Avg568
Black (est.)283
White (est.)83

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

52%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$46K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

3 initiatives

Question 1 – Marijuana LegalizationView full details →

Legalized recreational marijuana for adults.

PassedDrug Policy2016
AltReform Score82/100

Diversion First InitiativeView full details →

Law enforcement mental health diversion connecting people to treatment.

ActiveMental Health2019
AltReform Score85/100

LD 1521 – Record ExpungementView full details →

Created first-ever expungement process in Maine.

PassedReentry2021
AltReform Score79/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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