AUBURN — Androscoggin County Commissioners have ended a two-month stalemate with Sheriff Guy Desjardins, voting to begin the process of hiring three new jail guards.
Since May, Desjardins has pleaded with the three-member commission to hire full-time staff to replace a shrinking pool of part-timers and higher-priced staff who are working overtime.
The lack of help has cost the county $6,000 in overtime in the past four weeks, Desjardins told commissioners this week.
On Thursday, Commissioner Elaine Makas praised the sheriff, saying he made a clear, tough-to-refute case.
“The difference in the costs was quite shocking,” she said. “Kudos to the sheriff.”
The problem has been getting worse for many months, as the pool of part-time guards has been shrinking and fewer people have been applying for the rigorous work.
Part-time reserve officers earn $11.75 per hour; a corrections officer with five years of experience would earn $16.43 per hour, plus benefits.
Commissioners Randall Greenwood and Jonathan LaBonte had put off the full-time staffing, asking the sheriff to bring more people into the part-time pool.
That, too, has been difficult and the process takes too long to address immediate needs, Desjardins argued.
In fact, part-time jail guards are restricted by the state on the number of hours they can work in a single year.
The state has granted the county a limited waiver to allow some part-timers to work beyond their cap, but it cannot last, Chief Deputy Mike Lemay said.
“They’ve been working a full-time-plus schedule,” Lemay said. The overtime is also wearing out the regular guards.
“The staff is working a lot of hours and they are getting tired, as anyone would,” he said.
Commission Chairman Greenwood said he had little choice but to back the sheriff.
LaBonte did not attend the meeting and Makas has been sympathetic to the sheriff’s position.
However, Greenwood said that Desjardins must return to the commission with any candidates for the three jobs.
“We’ll consider them each, one by one,” Greenwood said.
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