AUBURN – After months of squabbles, the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department will get its late-night deputy.

The three-member County Commission voted Wednesday to hire Maurice Drouin for the job.

The position will allow the department to have three deputies on the road late at night, which ought to better protect both residents and police, argued deputies and Sheriff Guy Desjardins.

“I feel great,” Desjardins said after the meeting. “We’ve got the officer that we wanted.”

Drouin, a Livermore Falls officer with five years of experience, is scheduled to start Aug. 19.

However, Drouin’s name has been public for months, part of the power struggle that led Desjardins to sue the commission.

Desjardins argued that he had the right to hire the officer, whose position was funded by the county budget committee at the start of the year.

However, the commission blocked the position until April, when Desjardins decided to go around the commission and hire Drouin independently.

The end run failed to get a judge’s support last month, when Desjardins’ attorney argued for an injunction to put Drouin in the job immediately.

The sheriff dropped the case and entered Drouin’s name – one more time – to the commissioners.

Their unanimous approval came without discussion Wednesday in a meeting that lasted less than 15 minutes.

Commissioners declined to comment when it was over.

However, Desjardins said he hopes for better relations in the future.

“We’re going to have to work out our differences,” he said. “Business will go on.”

As part of that business, the commission also approved hiring Lewiston police Officer Daniel Vachon to take over duties as the school resource officer in Poland.

Vachon, a former teacher, has worked as a policeman for seven years, he said.

“I feel honored that two academy-trained guys are coming into the department,” Desjardins said.