FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners approved adding the title “administrator” to legal secretary Sarah Caton’s job description, and bumped her pay grade up a level on Tuesday, despite objections from two elected officials.

Commissioners voted 2-1 to change the job description and increase her pay grade level from four to five with Fred Hardy of New Sharon opposed, beginning July 1. Hardy had no problem increasing her pay grade level but had an issue of adding the word “administrator” to her job description, he said prior to the vote.

Caton works in the Office of the District Attorney, District Three in Farmington.

District Attorney Andrew Robinson, who oversees offices in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, presented reasons why he wanted Caton to be acknowledged for all the work she is doing and have her job description and pay grade level changed.

Caton is doing much more than what her job description states, he said. He wanted to classify Caton’s current position as a pay grade level five, based upon the additional duties.

Caton’s pay will increase from $18.35 an hour to $19.80 an hour on July 1, not factoring in any cost of living increase that may be granted, Deputy Treasurer Vickie Braley said Wednesday.

Caton has worked for the DA’s office for nearly 10 years. Among her duties is to prepare each grand jury session, felony case and final report of the grand jury in Franklin County.

In addition to her legal work, Caton also coordinates the schedules of both assistant district attorneys, ensures that no deadlines are missed and maintains the office inventory of supplies, Robinson said.

It is the additional responsibilities that Caton has taken on that further justifies classifying her position at a higher pay grade, he said. She is administrator of the JustWare system, a software database used by all of the district attorneys’ offices, he said. 

The maintenance of a criminal database requires a tremendous amount of attention to detail and the information must be entered correctly or modified only under very specific circumstances, he said.

She also identified the budget as an area that needed closer scrutiny and prepares each annual budget for his review to ensure the financial business of the DA’s office is being processed appropriately, he said.

Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon said it seemed to him that the office has put a lot of liability on one person. he asked what would happen if something happens to her or she leaves.

The tasks need to be done and somebody has to be qualified to do them, Robinson said.

Caton learned JustWare from former JustWare administrator, Mary Young, before she left her position several years ago, he said. If Caton leaves, someone else would be trained, he said.

He doesn’t have enough people to cross-train with each person having specific duties, he said. They would get help from somewhere else if Caton is out for an extended period.

Register of Deeds Susan Black and Register of Probate Joyce Morton spoke against moving Caton to level five pay grade, saying that grade is the level their deputies are on, they said. Both deputies have the authority to step in and do the registers’ jobs if they are not there, while Caton would not be able to step in and do Robinson’s job, they argued.

When he is not present, Robinson said, Caton is paying the bills, making sure everything that needs to be done is done and keeps him abreast of what is going on. She doesn’t have a law degree, he said.

Morton said her software program is unique and information needs to be accurately entered or the whole thing can be skewed.

County Clerk Julie Magoon said she disagreed with Black and Morton, saying they were comparing apples to oranges. The function of a district attorney is different than a department head, Magoon said.

“We have got to take each department separately and not take them” as a whole, Commissioner Clyde Barker of Strong said, as the county has done with the pay scale.

Taking each department separately makes sense, Magoon said.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net