LEWISTON – The growing fight between Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins and the County Commission may be headed for a courtroom.

Desjardins said Thursday he plans to meet with a lawyer and may force the issue of his authority as sheriff to be settled by a judge.

“I’ve gone through too much,” said Desjardins, who twice defeated the incumbent sheriff last year. He took office on Jan. 1. “I’m not going to quit.”

Yet, one day after another rancor-filled meeting with commissioners, Desjardins said he was feeling beaten.

“I totally feel helpless right now,” he said.

On Wednesday, the three-member commission killed off a measure to hire a new patrol deputy, citing worry that $180,000 in state money might not come to the county after all. Desjardins and his deputies had argued that the safety of both officers and the public demanded another night patrol officer.

At the same meeting, Desjardins fought again over his choice of Eric Samson as chief deputy. While Desjardins was in Waterville, attending classes at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Treasurer Robert Poulin voided several purchase orders signed by the sheriff and initialed by Samson.

Since Samson has never been formally recognized by the commission – from an ongoing dispute over the position’s salary – Poulin said he couldn’t recognize the initials.

“It’s bigger than the one position or Eric,” Desjardins said. “It’s about my ability to operate day to day. Where is my authority during all of this?”

The sad casualty may be the reputation of the county, Desjardins said.

“We’re so dysfunctional now,” he said. “I don’t blame people for what they think of us.”

The Wednesday meeting was so tense that Turner Selectmen Charlie Mack, who had attended to speak in favor of the added patrol officer, left in disgust when the issue turned to Samson.

“It was so adversarial,” Mack said Thursday. He was especially “displeased” with the commission and its choice to prohibit Desjardins from hiring the deputy.

“I don’t understand the logic of it,” said Mack, who spent part of Thursday morning researching state statutes on the Internet, looking for some way to reintroduce the patrol issue or get rid of the commissioners.

He found nothing.

Maine state statute is largely silent on recalling county officials. While protocols exist for recalling county sheriffs and district attorneys, there are no systems in place to recall county commissioners.

Recall provisions also don’t exist for state senators, representatives or the governor, she said.

Similarly, Wednesday’s action by commissioners to not include the night-patrol deputy position seems to have fallen between the procedural cracks. When the issue came up for a vote, following a motion and a second, none of the commissioners voted.

They sat motionless. Chairman Elmer Berry interpreted it as a lost vote.

Such a non-vote would not likely happen at either the state or local level.

Among municipalities, officials are counseled to either vote, recuse themselves on the grounds of a possible conflict of interest or abstain because of lack of information, said Geoffrey Herman, government relations director for the Maine Municipal Association.

In the Maine Legislature, members of the House and Senate who are present for a vote must vote or get explicit permission from the chair, said Al Boutot, calendar clerk for the Maine House of Representatives.

At either level, there’s no such thing as sitting out.

“I think it goes back to animosity between the commissioners and the new sheriff,” said Michael Bowie, the chairman of the county Budget Committee. “They can’t seem to break that mold. The commissioners need to remember that they are elected officials.”

Bowie, who also serves as a selectman in Lisbon, still marvels over this winter’s budget battle. The Budget Committee didn’t give Desjardins everything he wanted, cutting a requested two positions for half a year to one position for a full year.

“I think the commissioners are not thinking of the communities of Androscoggin County,” Bowie said.

County Commission Chairman Elmer Berry did not return phone calls on Thursday.

Commissioner Connie Cote likewise did not return a message left at her home. A call to Commissioner Helen Poulin’s home in Turner home Thursday night went unanswered Thursday night.

Desjardins doesn’t know what he’ll do. He’ll talk to the lawyer, but it may go no further, he said.

For now, he’ll try to ignore the politics and help folks. That’s what he did during Monday’s storm, driving in his cruiser and answering police calls, even though he didn’t have to work on the Patriots Day holiday.

“I’m being really sincere,” he said. “This is the best job I ever had.”