SKOWHEGAN — Somerset County commissioners decided to continue leaving what to do with guns forfeited in connection with crimes to the sheriff, bringing an end to a monthslong debate that raised questions of the duties of different elected officials.

By a vote of 3-1, the commissioners decided in June to keep the county’s policy the same as it had been.

The existing general county policy lets the Sheriff’s Office make its own decisions about disposing of any acquired property, including forfeited firearms, but it requires the office to keep records of the disposal and report them to the five-member Board of Commissioners.

In the vote at their meeting June 18, the commissioners added a more specific requirement that the sheriff make two annual reports to them with details about firearms in his office’s possession.

Discussions among Somerset County officials began in January, when a routine vote to transfer forfeited property from the district attorney’s office to the Sheriff’s Office prompted questions about what Sheriff Dale Lancaster does with firearms forfeited as a result of a criminal conviction.

Lancaster said he generally destroys such firearms. But a majority of commissioners appeared in favor of at least discussing the possibility of selling them instead.

In April, Lancaster told the board that, although he supports the Second Amendment and gun ownership, he was not in favor of making money off weapons used in the commission of a crime. He was also concerned about the optics of a case where the county sold a forfeited gun and it was used again to commit a crime in the community. And, he said, most of the guns his office has taken would likely not have any substantial resale value.

The Board of Commissioners discussed the issue several times this spring, but came to no clear conclusion as to how to move forward. Lancaster told the board he was willing to consider a compromise.

And only District 4 Commissioner John Alsop, of Cornville, submitted a draft for a new policy. Alsop was in favor of leaving all decisions regarding forfeited property to the sheriff.

District 3 Commissioner Scott Seekins, of St. Albans, who was the most vocal in pushing for the county to consider selling forfeited guns, said at the June 18 meeting he understood Lancaster’s concerns but wanted the commissioners to be more involved in decision-making, as it could affect the county’s budget.

The commissioners generally are tasked with making policies and setting the annual budget. They do not supervise the sheriff, who is elected independently.

“I think we should have a consistent look at everything that is potentially going to raise money for the county,” Seekins said at the meeting.

He was the sole commissioner of the four at the meeting who voted against keeping the policy largely the same.

But County Administrator Tim Curtis, an appointed official who reports to the commissioners, told the board that his recommendation was to leave the policy the same as it had been, allowing the sheriff to make his own decisions while reporting his activities to the commissioners.

“I understand that every penny is important,” Curtis said. “But it seems that we are being guided by, perhaps, a passion for certain items here, such as firearms. Any revenue that would be generated from the auction or the sale of these weapons would be minuscule compared to the sheriff’s budget.

“The sheriff negotiates contracts for the boarding of inmates that generate millions of dollars, and I don’t see the commissioners being concerned about being involved in those processes. Why do the commissioners have to be involved in something that generates hundreds of dollars?”

The clash between commissioners and sheriffs over what to do with forfeited firearms is not a new issue in Maine.

Curtis said previously that in 2024, in the wake of the attempted ouster of Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright, the Somerset County commissioners changed the county’s policy to add the general record-keeping requirement for the Sheriff’s Office.

Among the Oxford County commissioners’ complaints about Wainwright was a lack of records and information pertaining to his disposal of firearms.

Gov. Janet Mills, the only person in Maine with the authority to remove a sheriff, ultimately rejected the commissioners’ petition to remove Wainwright.

In her decision, Mills wrote that Oxford County’s policy about the gun disposal was ambiguous, and that it would have been “prudent” for the sheriff to have support from the commissioners when he traded in the guns for credit from a dealer.