AUBURN – The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department will get its new deputy.

The three-member County Commission voted Wednesday to reverse itself, creating the controversial position that it had blocked for months.

“It’s good news,” Sheriff Guy Desjardins said. “My prime concern is getting an officer out there.”

Commissioner Helen Poulin cited changes by the state, including the appropriation of promised community correction funds, for its turnaround. The commission wanted to ensure that the county receive upward of $180,000 in state money for jails before allowing the additional hire.

She also warned the county’s 14 cities and towns to prepare for a hefty increase in their tax levy next year. Without raising spending, the increase could reach 15.1 percent, she said.

Poulin was the only one to vote on the measure Wednesday. Commissioner Constance Cote was unable to attend due to poor health, and Chairman Elmer Berry only votes in the case of a tie.

Commissioners made no reference to surging public criticism.

Leaders in half dozen or more county towns have written letters siding with the sheriff on the added deputy. On Monday, selectmen in Turner voted to bill the county for a refund of its share of county money if the commission continued to block the hiring of the funded position.

“There seems to be a disconnect between the taxpayers and this body,” said Ron Potvin, who leads a residential taxpayers group in Auburn and works as a corrections officer in the county jail.

Potvin applauded the commission for allowing the deputy to be hired but criticized the group for meeting during the day in a small room ill-suited to seat the public or give room to the media who attended.

“We feel we’re being left out of the loop,” Potvin said.

Though the commission cleared the way for a new deputy to be hired, it refused to accept the sheriff’s candidate for the job, Maurice Drouin.

They told Desjardins to start his hiring process over.

“We are not saying that Mr. Drouin is not a good candidate for this position,” Poulin said. “We’re not saying that whatsoever. We’re just saying that there’s a process that needs to be followed.”

Desjardins and the commission disagree over the sheriff’s right to hire personnel. Desjardins believes he has the right. Commissioners believe it’s their exclusive domain.

When Wednesday’s meeting ended, Desjardins repeated his call for Berry’s resignation and said that the bigger issue remains: his authority to lead his department.

“Are we closer?” he asked. “Are we getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel? We most certainly are.”

Both sides cite laws and rules.

By law, the commission must respond in writing to Desjardins’ naming of Drouin for the deputy position, the sheriff said. They have until June 13, 14 days after he named his candidate in a letter to the commission.

The written minutes of Wednesday’s meeting is all he’ll get, Poulin said.

However, if a letter never arrives, Desjardins said he might sue.

“That’s still on the table,” he said.

Meanwhile, the commission has left Desjardins personally on the hook for $300 in newspaper ads he bought to advertise the deputy job. Commissioners say he placed the ads before they gave him permission to do so.

It is uncertain when the new deputy will be on the street. It will be weeks away, the sheriff said.

The deputy will join two other officers on the late shift.

At 11 p.m., the Maine State Police typically ends its patrols for the night. At midnight, Poland’s deputy, contracted by the town to patrol there exclusively, ends his shift and goes home.

That leaves two deputies as the only police for eight Androscoggin County towns – Minot, Livermore, Turner, Greene, Leeds, Wales, Durham and Poland.