Lincoln County

Lincoln 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.

• Lincoln County Sheriff's OfficeCounty23,050 served
• Waldoboro Police DepartmentCity5,334 served
• Wiscasset Police DepartmentWiscasset town4,003 served
• Damariscotta Police DepartmentDamariscotta town2,310 served
• Boothbay Harbor Police DepartmentBoothbay Harbor town2,099 served

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.