BANGOR, Maine (AP) — The Penobscot County Jail is reducing the number of inmates released in the middle of the night.

The Bangor Daily News reports that inmates are more likely to be released at 6:30 a.m. instead of midnight after the sheriff changed the policy last month.

The change came after a former inmate criticized officials for allowing inmates to be released late at night when the buses weren’t running and homeless shelters were closed.

The newspaper said most jails that it surveyed release inmates in the morning.

Sheriff Troy Morton says that going forward inmates serving sentences for more than seven days will now be released at 6:30 a.m, unless they request to leave at midnight.

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