AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine sheriff is asking local police to cut back on arresting non-violent offenders in order to ease overcrowding at the Kennebec County Correctional Facility.

Kennebec County Sheriff Randy Liberty says his county jail in Augusta is chronically overcrowded and inmates often have to sleep on the floor due to lack of beds.

The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1DNBFm8 ) that Liberty’s efforts to curb the arrests of non-violent offenders has paid off and drawn praise from defense lawyers and prosecutors alike.

He says the jail’s 147-inmate capacity is strained by suspects charged with minor offenses who can’t afford to post bail.

Augusta defense lawyer Walter McKee says jails are full of pretrial defendants who would not be incarcerated after they’re convicted.

“We’re just trying to work smarter with the finite resources we have at the correctional facility,” Liberty said.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney says she supports Liberty’s push to limit the number of pretrial inmates being housed at the jail.

“It’s always best for a person to spend time in jail after they have been convicted of a crime,” Maloney told the newspaper. “Sometimes I look at a custody case and think, ‘Why was this person arrested?'”

Maloney noted said Liberty’s efforts are aimed at making officers aware of circumstances in which they could issue a court summons, even though they have the authority to take someone into custody.

At one point in January, Liberty said, the jail housed more than 200 prisoners and hit the 240-mark last summer.