Although there were no concrete answers, Chief Deputy Ken Mason of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office offered one reason the jail count had grown so high.

“Crime doesn't take holidays,” he said Tuesday during the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting in Wiscasset.

The current count for Lincoln County inmates at Two Bridges Regional Jail stood at 57 on Tuesday, Dec. 3, while the Sagadahoc portion had 42 prisoners.

When asked by Chairman William Blodgett why there were so many inmates, Mason said any number of factors could be at work, including increased OUI arrests and the timing of the courts.

“This is unusually high,” Mason said. “As far as numbers go, we're usually in the high 20s or low 30s. We divert when we can.”

In other Lincoln County Commissioners action, the commissioners approved a plan to allow county employees to donate a portion of their paychecks to United Way. Tom Blatz, United Way Campaign Director, had spoken with the commissioners during the Nov. 19 meeting.