FARMINGTON – During the Franklin County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, County Administrator Amy Bernard reported that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has filled their last vacancy with the hire of Jesse Clement, currently employed by the Farmington Police Department. Clement is a non-buyout hire which means that there is no reimbursement cost from the county to the town of Farmington; under state law an agency that pays for an officer’s training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy can be reimbursed for part of the cost of that training if the officer transfers to a different department within a few years of training, with the amount to decrease each year after graduation until there is no buyout.
The sheriff’s office requested permission to donate several handheld radios to the MSAD 58 school district. Lt. David Rackliffe said that there are about 16 radios which are no longer being used by the sheriff’s department; some of them may not be usable due to age, but they intend to have the radios evaluated and only donate the ones that are usable. Rackliffe said they anticipate eight to ten radios that can be donated, but they may be able to donate all sixteen depending on the findings of the evaluation. These radios would be programmed with the MSAD 58 bus channels along with two of the county dispatch channels.
This donation would be counted as an ‘in-kind’ match towards the COPS school safety grant awarded to the county and local school districts in 2022. The commissioners unanimously voted to gift the radios to the school district.
Several applications for the county’s Opioid Settlement grant funding were reviewed. The Franklin County Opioid Settlement Fund Committee recommended awarding $10,000 to Western Maine Community Action which will be used for harm reduction programs to help support recovery programs and people experiencing substance use disorder. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve this award. Other applications are under review and pending some additional information to ensure that the funds would be spent within Franklin County. These applications are funded through the Opioid Settlement funds and more information can be found on www.franklincountymaine.gov/opioid-settlement-funds
