FARMINGTON – Franklin County commissioners voted Monday to hire an assistant administrator for the jail. A draft job description is under review.

The jail had an assistant administrator prior to the state consolidating county jails into one system on July 1, 2009. The position was eliminated when Franklin County jail became a 72-hour holding facility. The jail was returned to full-service operations in April. That was followed by the state doing away with the state Board of Corrections and control over the jails was returned to counties.

The work is more than one can handle, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. told commissioners. Maj. Doug Blauvelt is doing a great job but he needs some help, he said.

The position will be filled in-house. The job will be posted for four supervisor corrections officers to consider.

Among the assistant administrator’s duties will be overseeing jail operations, training programs and to make sure prisoners get the care they need and it is consistent throughout the jail for all shifts, Nichols said.

The position would be a lieutenant and carries a pay grade level five, which is one step below Blauvelt’s administrator position, he said.

The position would be funded by money the state set aside — about $12 million to help jails throughout the state, Nichols said.

The county had received about $132,000 in the past and received about $172,000 this year, county Clerk Julie Magoon said.

Twenty percent of the money is to be used for programs for prisoners and the rest for jail operations, Treasurer Pam Prodan said.

The jail is short-handed, Magoon said. The salary for the position would be in the high $30,000s.

The jail is holding steady at 32 inmates and the county is helping Oxford County with one inmate, Nichols said.

McGrane said he would like to see certain information in the job description that was not carried over from the former description. He will work with Nichols on it.

Commissioner Charles Webster of Farmington said he would like to see a comparison of personnel structures at other jails. He is concerned about Jay and the paper mill’s financial situation and how it will affect the county, he said.

The jail will remain at the cap of $1.62 million that the county raised for the past several years under the consolidated jail system for 2017, Nichols said, and it is not going to rise at this point.

It is hard to compare Franklin County because it is a smaller jail and they have a small staff. Other jails are larger and have more staff, including administration, he said.

Webster said the state’s $12 million distributed to jails could be slashed by the next governor.

The draft job description will be brought to the next meeting.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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