AUBURN – The three-member Androscoggin County Commission slashed the power of its supervisors Wednesday, taking some hiring authority away from the county’s department heads.

The newly amended hiring policy – unveiled only moments before the unanimous vote of the commission – puts a three-member hiring panel in charge of selecting and interviewing candidates for every vacant job in the county.

“It’s another move by the County Commission to micromanage the departments,” said John Cleveland, the Androscoggin County register of probate. “It puts the County Commission in complete control of the entire hiring process.”

Already, the commission had the right to accept or deny candidates for county jobs. Now, they will play a role in who gets interviewed and the questions they are asked, according to the two-paragraph policy.

Commission Chairman Elmer Berry said the move was, in part, the re-introduction of an old rule.

“The personnel policy had not been enforced in a number of years,” Berry said. The change was meant to widen the pool of decision-makers, he said, “rather than leaving it up to one person.”

Cleveland, who is an elected official, said the move represents a shift by the commissioners from setting policy to running the departments.

And they may not be equipped to do that, he said.

“I think it’s short-sighted,” Cleveland said. “I don’t think they have the knowledge or expertise.”

It’s uncertain how unusual the policy is among Maine counties. In Cumberland County, hiring is overseen by a personnel board. In Oxford County, decisions about who to interview and who to recommend for a job is up to the individual department head, Oxford County Administrator Carole Fulton said Wednesday. Beyond that, the recommendations are accompanied by a second and third choice in case the commission rejects the No. 1 candidate.

But such rejections are rare, she said.

Sheriff Guy Desjardins said he was disappointed by the commission’s actions. He also wished he’d been consulted, he said.

Desjardins, Cleveland and Emergency Management Agency Director Joanne Potvin attended the meeting. Neither Potvin nor Cleveland knew of the change until the issue came up at the meeting.

“It was a complete surprise,” Cleveland said.

Berry said he felt no particular responsibility to bring a draft to the supervisors. The policy change was on the meeting agenda released Tuesday and there was no discussion when it came up, he said.

“I called for comment and there wasn’t any,” Berry said.