FARMINGTON —  Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to approve promoting a Sheriff’s Office deputy to sergeant as a supervisor.

The estimated cost is an additional $7,200 a year for base salary and benefits.

Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr., left, and Lt. David Rackliffe speak to Franklin County commissioners Tuesday at the county courthouse about promoting a deputy to sergeant. It is expected to reduce overtime pay and will be paid for by revenues. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

However, with two months down in this fiscal year, it is estimated to be about $6,000 for the remainder of the year and be offset by revenue.

The promotion brings the number of sergeants to four.

“We are getting more and more busy up there (at the Sheriff’s Office),” Lt. David Rackliffe said. “We are looking to get more assistance for what I am doing.”

This is not an additional position, it is a simple promotion that will allow for better supervision of personnel, Lt. David Rackliffe said.

“Currently we have three sergeants and four shifts,” he said. “Two dayshifts and two nightshifts.”

There are, on average, three days a week where no sergeant is working and one night every few weeks where there is no sergeant, according to Rackliffe’s letter to commissioners.

By adding a fourth sergeant, it will significantly reduce the number of shifts where a sergeant is not working, he said.

“This helps to ensure we have supervision and accountability which ultimately reduces liability,” Rackliffe said. “It will also give us greater flexibility with staff who currently accumulate a significant number of overtime hours each week by being able to shift their hours of work.”

In the past five pay periods, the Sheriff’s Office is under last year’s overtime hours by an average of 14 hours per pay period, he said.

Last year, the office was three deputies short in this time frame.

“So, now that we are full-staffed, we are using less overtime per week on average,” Rackliffe said.

With the changes, Rackliffe said, he should to see the overtime line significantly under budget.

The Sheriff’s Office has reimbursements come from several sources, including the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, coverage of the town of Rangeley, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services grant, in which the revenues can be used to offset the increase in the budgeted salary line for sergeants.

Rackliffe said it will ease some of the supervisory work he is doing so he can focus on his other duties.

“This change helps provide more supervision, more accountability, allows for delegation of more duties from the sheriff’s administration and reduces liability, all without any expected end-increase in the budget,” Rackliffe said.

Interviews for the new sergeant position will include outside law enforcement personnel.

In other business, commissioners voted to appoint LeeAnna Lavoie of Jay, Stacy Austin of Industry and Tom Saviello of Wilton to the county’s Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee.

The committee was suspended for a short time in the spring so rules and bylaws could be redeveloped. Commissioners Bob Carlton of Freeman Township, Chairman Lance Harvell of Farmington and Terry Brann of Wilton interviewed the three applicants in late August.

Carlton agreed in April to be the commissioners’ liaison to the committee. Carlton, Susan Pratt, the county’s American Rescue Plan Act administrator, and sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Ryan Close redeveloped the committee.

There will be a maximum five members who meet four times a year. There will be a nonvoting chairperson.

With the three appointments, the committee can move forward with meetings. Franklin County has or is to receive about $1.3 million in the opioid settlement funds over the next 17 years. It will be used in treating, preventing and educating in an “an evidence based” approach outlined by the Office of the Maine Attorney General.