FARMINGTON — Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputies were recognized with a Safe Driving Award for traveling over 200,000 miles in 2023 with no incidents.

Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. Submitted photo

“The Sheriff’s Office itself travels well over 200,000 miles a year, day and night,” Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said. “This recognition speaks to the due care our deputies take every day when they are responding to the various calls for service.”

The Maine County Commissioners Association Risk Pool announced that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Farmington and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office in Dover-Foxcroft tied for first place. The announcement was made at the association conference last week at Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley.

The counties will receive $2,750 each. The money for Franklin County will be counted as miscellaneous revenue, county Administrator Amy Bernard said.

“We are very pleased to share that Franklin County tied for first place and was recognized for their exceptional safe driving practices during 2023,” according to a release from Franklin County commissioners.

Coming in third place was the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office in Paris, which will receive $2,000, according to a news release.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office in Rockland came in fourth and will receive $1,500, and coming in fifth was Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in Wiscasset for a $1,000 award.

Franklin County commissioners left the Maine County Commissioners Association for several years and returned in 2023.

Prior to that, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office won the award for safe driving in 2016. The county had won the award several times before that.

The risk pool, which is technically not insurance, was started in the fall of 1989 in an effort to guarantee coverage regardless of losses, stabilize costs, retain immunity protections under the Maine Tort Claim Act when applicable, and save money over the long haul, Malcolm Ulmer, the risk pool manager said in 2017.