AUBURN – At the close of his first year, one marked with controversy and accomplishment, Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins gives himself a “B.”

In 2007, he managed to cut thousands of dollars from the jail budget, add an officer to patrol rural towns and boost the visibility of the department. Personally, he attended dozens of selectmen and council meetings and emblazoned his name on the county’s newest cruisers.

He also survived a months-long struggle with the three-member county commission that eventually sent both sides to court. The issue: whether he had the right to hire the nighttime patrol officer.

The case ended last summer with a preliminary opinion that backed the commission.

“Our working relationship has improved,” said Desjardins, trying to avoid too much emphasis on the controversy with the commissioners. “We’re moving forward. I’m trying to stay optimistic.”

There are lots of reasons to be hopeful, he said.

“We’re trying to partner more with local police,” he said. Deputies will likely be part of police sweeps and checkpoints that look for drunken or unlicensed drivers. The department has also joined an initiative by Lewiston, Auburn, Lisbon and Healthy Androscoggin to provide an alcohol enforcement officer for the area.

In the jail, preparations are under way for the creation of a kind of TV studio, where inmates could be arraigned via microphone and Web cam. County commissioners have championed the concept, budgeting the needed $20,000 for set-up costs in hopes of finding savings on the travel budget.

Those savings will be negligible, Desjardins predicted. After all, it will cost several thousand dollars a year to operate the system, and many people will still need to go to district court in Lewiston to meet with a judge face to face. But for high profile cases especially, it should dramatically increase the security of the prisoners and the safety of the officers charged with moving them.

“The chances of an escape are much higher when we go out the door,” the sheriff said. “We’ll be able to plug in and they’ll be able to stay in the jail the whole time.”

Desjardins and county staffers are working on other changes at the jail, looking into privatizing food service, which could save thousands of dollars according to one estimate.

There are changes being examined in the inmate phone system, which runs as a kind of private system inside the jail paid for by the inmates themselves.

Proceeds, about $100,000 each year, go to an inmate account that pays for adult education and other services. By changing companies, county officials hope to bring in another $10,000 in revenue.

The jail is also working with the Maine Department of Corrections in a prescription drug purchasing program, “Correct RX,” that saved $35,000 over the past six months of 2007. Desjardins hopes to save about $45,000 in 2008.

And what if the state takes over the jail?

Desjardins is trying to keep focused on what he can control, he said. Plans could be shelved if the Department of Corrections took over the state’s 15 county jails, as the governor has requested. However, opposition may be strong and plans for a quick change could be slowed in the Legislature.

“I can only prepare for what’s in front of me,” Desjardins said. “The engine has to keep running.”

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