Cumberland County

Cumberland County follows Maine law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first

A bail commissioner sets most first bail, especially after hours. Commissioners are residents the Chief Judge of the District Court appoints, and they need not be lawyers. They may not set bail for murder, Class A to C domestic violence crimes, or violations of a protection order; a judge decides those.

15 M.R.S. 1023

Time to see a judge

A person arrested and not released must see a judge within 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, or the jail must release them. A judge or justice of the peace must also find probable cause within 48 hours of a warrantless arrest, counting weekends.

M.R.U. Crim. P. 5(a)M.R.U. Crim. P. 4A(a)

Money bail

Money bail is allowed. Since 2021, a judge or bail commissioner may not set money bail when the top charge is a Class E crime, the lowest class, except for domestic violence, sex crimes, bail violations, and failures to appear.

15 M.R.S. 1026(3)(B-1)

Courts

Maine has two trial courts, the Superior Court and the District Court, and both hear criminal cases on one combined docket, the Unified Criminal Docket. Only the Superior Court holds jury trials; the District Court sits without a jury.

Maine Judicial Branch, Superior CourtMaine Judicial Branch, District Court

Judges and magistrates

The governor appoints Superior Court and District Court judges, and the state Senate confirms them. Judges serve seven-year terms.

Maine Judicial Branch, About

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Whether District Court judges must be lawyers was not confirmed. The pretrial services county list is from a January 2021 report.

Pretrial practice

Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument (VPRAI).

MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)

From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.

• Portland Police DepartmentPortland city69,840 served
• Cumberland County Sheriff's OfficeCounty56,117 served
• South Portland Police DepartmentSouth Portland city27,099 served
• Scarborough Police DepartmentCity24,473 served
• Brunswick Police DepartmentBrunswick town22,854 served
• Westbrook Police DepartmentWestbrook city21,633 served
• Windham Police DepartmentWindham town20,004 served
• Gorham Police DepartmentGorham town18,595 served
• Falmouth Police DepartmentCity13,033 served
• ME0031900City11,069 served
• Cape Elizabeth Police DepartmentCape Elizabeth town9,726 served
• Yarmouth Police DepartmentYarmouth town9,076 served
• Cumberland Police DepartmentCumberland town8,925 served
• Freeport Police DepartmentFreeport town8,911 served
• Bridgton Police DepartmentBridgton town6,021 served
• ME0031300City5,905 served
• University of Southern MaineUniversity or College

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.