NEW GLOUCESTER — Town officials say resident Frank Staton has threatened them repeatedly. The 41-year-old denies the charge and says he’s not a danger to anyone.

The matter will be discussed in Portland District Court on Monday as town leaders attempt to make a protection order against Staton permanent.

The issue has been simmering for years and came to a head recently when news sources publicized the alleged threats.

Several people, including animal control officials, selectmen and the town manager, say Staton has made repeated threats and that he has refereed to a “kill list” of names of people whom he says have wronged him.

Staton, who has not been charged, firmly denies the accusations. He may talk tough at times, he said, but he does not make threats.

“I’m not a criminal,” he told the Sun Journal last month. “I don’t threaten anybody in any shape, way or form. I may be verbal, maybe you call it colorful, in the way I say things. I may swear more than the average person, but I don’t threaten people.”

Town Manager Paul First received a temporary order for protection from harassment from Portland District Court on May 30 against Staton. It covers all town employees and selectmen.

On Monday at 9 a.m., the involved parties will be at the Portland courthouse to make their case. Town officials will try to convince a judge that the protection order should remain in effect.

The town will presumably bring stacks of paperwork to bolster its case. That will include the protection order itself, which describes Staton as “easily agitated” and points out that he is known to carry concealed weapons.

There is also a “Statement Concerning Frank Staton” attached to the court order, a document that describes a timeline, which includes colorful details about the conflict. The timeline begins Feb. 1, 2012, when Staton allegedly told a state worker that the New Gloucester animal control officer “is on my kill list.”

A year later, Staton was said to have threatened the town manager by making the sign of a pistol with his fingers and pointing it. “This was done after Mr. Staton became quite agitated following a special town meeting,” according to the document.

The statement continues, with a long list of alleged threats, name-calling and various forms of harassment. On May 12, Staton was said to have sent to an email threatening Board of Selectmen Chairman Steven Libby and all town employees: “Anyone caught on my property,” Staton wrote, “will be taking their life into their own hands and will pay a price.”

A series of obscenities followed in that email.

In the document, First wrote: “We are concerned for the safety of my employees, elected officials and myself. I understand that Mr. Staton carries a concealed weapon. He becomes easily agitated and ‘unhinged.’ Incidents have occurred without provocation. Recently his harassment has increased due to the passage of a citizen’s recall initiative. Mr. Staton has anti-government sentiments. I understand that he is a self-professed ‘sovereign citizen.’ I suspect Mr. Staton of recent vandalism activity.”

Although the disputes between Staton and the town appear varied, one such conflict is spelled out in a report from the Animal Welfare Program. In the report, Humane Agent Jodie M. Johnson details a dispute that began when state officials went to Staton’s home after receiving a complaint that his two young cows were not being properly cared for.

“He had a very aggressive and angry demeanor,” Johnson wrote.

An inspection of Staton’s animals revealed no signs of abuse or neglect, according to the report. However, Staton told the officer that “this was the last time he was letting anyone on his property to look at his animals.”

The report also states that Staton declared he would keep as many animals as he wished and that “he would just as soon shoot the animals and put a 9 mm bullet in their heads and cut them up for coyote bait.”

In the same report, Johnson relates that a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department official told her that when the department is sent to the Staton home on a complaint, “they take two units and do not recommend that anyone from our office go there alone in the future.”

Staton has no criminal history of violence. Court records reveal a single conviction for criminal mischief in 1999.

The Monday hearing will take place in Room 2 at the Portland courthouse on Newbury Street.

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