AUBURN – Squeezed out of their longtime offices in the basement of the Androscoggin County Courthouse due to increasingly foul-smelling air, sheriff’s deputies have begun working inside the Lewiston and Auburn police departments.

In Auburn, computer work stations are available to deputies who need a spot to write reports or fill out papers. Both cities have opened interview rooms and training spaces to the county.

“I think it’s essential that the sheriff’s department continue to provide its services to the community,” Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell said Friday.

Crowell contacted Sheriff Guy Desjardins with his offer on Thursday, after reading about the space pinch in the Sun Journal.

The deputies can easily use the police department’s computers, since the two cities and the county are connected by the same database and records management system.

In Auburn, the deputies will work in the so-called “bullpen” area on the main floor. Crowell also offered basement space to the county’s detectives, an offer that Desjardins turned down, with thanks.

Detective Sgt. Bill Gagne, who has been working in a former supply closet since the basement was closed on Oct. 1, preferred to stay put. Though his office is small, he is close to the jail and the court where much of his work takes place.

His new office is small, about 8 feet by 10 feet, but it’s far better than the basement room, where the musty odor was punctuated by sewer-like smells and falling bits of paint dust, Gagne said.

Auburn and Lewiston police also have offered deputies the use of their interview rooms. The arrangement is meant to be temporary.

County Commissioners Helen Poulin and Elmer Berry met with local town and city leaders on Oct. 22 to discuss permanent options, including construction of an addition onto the county courthouse. The addition would follow the demolition of the former jail, which has been empty for about 20 years.