ALFRED — Twenty-four York County government workers were laid off Monday in a move that will affect most county services and the taxpayers who use them.

The cuts will impact the sheriff’s department that patrols 14 rural towns, the district attorney’s office that processes criminal cases, the registries of deeds and probate and the county’s finance office.

As well, one employee will retire and a recent resignation won’t be filled in the district attorney’s office, bringing the number of positions eliminated to 26, said County Manager Richard Brown.

There were no cuts to non-union personnel. While there had been recent talks of across-the-board pay cuts and other measures to save jobs, there will be no pay cuts in administration, said Brown.

“These layoffs will devastate public safety and York County and put people at risk,” said York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence.

Seven deputies and one clerk were among the layoffs at the sheriff’s office Monday.

At the district attorney’s office, there were 20.5 clerical  positions eight months ago. By early Monday afternoon, 12.5 positions remained to process 14,000 criminal matters annually. Among the cuts, there were 1.5 positions dedicated to dealing with victims of crime, said Lawrence.

“It’s irresponsible,” said Sheriff Maurice Ouellette.

Lawrence said York County’s fiscal problems have been ongoing for years.

“This is a chronic problem. This is not based on the economic downturn but a long -term problem,” said Lawrence.

All laid-off workers were paid through the end of this week plus two weeks pay in lieu of notice. Ouellette said the immediacy of the layoffs meant he had not had time to plan how to operate the department going forward. The deputies were willing to work the two weeks notice, he noted.

Ouellette on Monday said the late shift would have no deputy on duty that night from midnight until 3:30 a.m. As well, he said deputies who received layoff notices Monday but were scheduled to work until midnight found access to their computers were cut off by mid-afternoon, making it difficult for them to do their job.

Brown said the layoffs should not have been a surprise to anyone ”“ layoffs were narrowly avoided in June and county commissioners two weeks ago authorized him to take whatever measures were necessary to reduce spending by $1.3 million.

The recent layoffs do not include positions eliminated or not filled in the sheriff’s office during the past year. Late in 2008, Ouellette laid off his third-in-command. A vacant lieutenant’s position is unfilled and a new position authorized by county commissioners for 2009 was eliminated.

“This is the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen in 30 years of law enforcement,” said Chief Deputy Mathew Baker.

Monday’s cuts also included seven layoffs in the registry of deeds, three in the registry of probate and a clerk’s position in the finance department, said Brown.

The move, designed to subtract $1.3 million from county spending in 2010, means the sheriff’s department will be left with 17 officers: Fifteen patrol positions, plus Ouellette and Baker.

Of the 15 patrol positions, four are dedicated to other entities ”“ two contract deputy  positions in Arundel and Waterboro, the MSAD 57 school resource officer, paid by the school district, and a domestic violence investigator position paid for by a grant ”“ leaving 11 to patrol 14 towns 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To add to the county’s law enforcement problems, Ouellette said he was recently informed by the Maine State Police Troop A commander that as of Sept. 20, troopers would not be patrolling the midnight shift. Given the county’s recent layoff news, he said he would meet  with the commander this week to try and work out schedules.

Workers got the news early Monday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies wondered how the shifts would be filled going forward and what would happen with the detectives division. Ouellette noted that the clearance rate by his officers for major crimes was 42 percent in 2008, far above the national average, estimated at 30 percent.

Officer Chris Roux, who joined the sheriffs office two years ago after working for Sanford Police, said the layoffs are troubling and predicted the crime rate will further increase. Deputies handled 19,000 calls for service in 2008.

“It will only get worse when (the criminals) know we’re not out there,” he said.

County officials have blamed the jail consolidation law for the county’s fiscal troubles. Until the state and county jail systems melded a year ago, the counties used revenues from prisoner board to offset other county expenses. But a law that became effective Sept. 12 means those revenues can’t be used after that date and must be dedicated to the jail. Brown, the county manager, estimated that means a loss of $932,000 for 2010, and that, combined with health insurance rate increases and contractual raises, means a shortfall of   $1.3 million in 2010. He said Monday’s layoffs will save just less than $1 million.

Ouellette said he told county officials a year ago that the revenues wouldn’t be available.

“I told them they’d better hang on to the pot of money they had,” he said. “I don’t see any other sheriffs doing today what I had to do today, because they paid attention and did it right.”

Unionized workers say they’ve made concessions and had been prepared to make more. CPA president Michael Hayes said workers agreed to forego raises in 2008 and agreed to concede uniform allowances, shift differentials and other concessions going forward.

“In contrast, various York County management and non-union personnel received an 8.5 percent salary increase in August 2007, and an additional 6 percent increase in 2009,” Hayes said.

“This is shocking, disturbing and alarming considering during impact negotiations Mr. Brown made it clear the budget cuts submitted by the sheriff of $262,000 was enough to get the department through 2009,” said Hayes, “So clearly, Mr. Brown’s statement during the recorded impact negotiations was not true.”

Workers pointed out that former county manager David Adjutant, who resigned in 2008, was paid in the $70,000 ”“ $75,000 range, while Brown earned $97,500 this year. His salary in 2008 was $96,800, said Finance Director Victoria Ridlon.

Maine State Employees Association president Rachel Sherman, who was laid off Monday after 12 years working in county government, said the layoffs will be devastating to the towns and people of York County. She said MSEA has also made concessions over the years including furlough days and wage freezes and shorter working hours. Brown maintained impact negotiations had failed and bristled at suggestions by some workers that the county’s finances have been mis-managed.

He said the only other alternative would have been to do nothing, a move which he said would have resulted in shutting down county services sometime next year.

“If anyone has a better alternative, including you, I want to hear it,” he said to a reporter this morning. “This is terrible. I’m sick over it.”

Both Lawrence and Ouellette were to meet with their remaining workers today to try and work out schedules. Ouellette noted some deputies who received layoff notices had come from other departments to work for the sheriff’s office.

“We were a pro-active, kick-ass department,” he said.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.