Kennebec County Sheriff Frank Hackett, his fellow representatives of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association, and Mary Adams of Garland Village, all deserve our thanks. With their March 8 State House steps press conference, they focused a bright public light onto a very disturbing situation: the efforts of some in our legislature to seize unto themselves even greater power.

The moves, this session and last, to eviscerate county government and co-opt county law enforcement are unworthy of our legislative body….

If the legislation currently under consideration is enacted into law, all of our county officials would come under the direct control of state government. As just one example, consider L.D. 2317, an act to transfer all functions and personnel of the offices of district attorneys from the counties to the state.

Should this and other bills become law, our sheriffs, district attorneys, county commissioners, probate judges, registers of deeds, clerks of probate, and county treasurers would be answerable not to us, but to the legislators and the state commissioners by whom they were appointed….

The matters discussed at the Sheriffs’ Association press conference come under the aegis of the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government, which meets in Room 121B of the State House (telephone 289-1330). If you are at all concerned about the future of county government and local control, now is the time to let your voice be heard.

The only way our legislators have to gauge the wishes of their constituents is by hearing from them. Express your views to your local legislators or to the members of the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government…. Alice Kehoe South China