Two Bridges Regional Jail’s acting administrator, Capt. James Bailey. (Abigail Adams photo, LCN file)
The acting administrator of Two Bridges Regional Jail will receive an administrator’s salary while Administrator Col. Mark Westrum remains on paid leave as he faces a charge of operating under the influence.
Meeting Wednesday, Dec. 14, the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority voted to compensate Capt. James Bailey, who the authority appointed acting jail administrator in mid-October, at the same rate as Correctional Administrator Col. Mark Westrum.
Bailey will receive compensation of $40.98 an hour retroactive to mid-October, when he assumed the responsibility of acting jail administrator, and will remain at that pay level until his duties change.
The vote was in keeping with the jail’s policy, which states that an individual who assumes duties above and beyond his or her own for a period of more than 16 days will receive appropriate compensation, Lincoln County Sheriff and jail authority member Todd Brackett said.
The jail authority also voted to keep Westrum on paid administrative leave until the chair of the jail authority calls a meeting in January to further discuss his employment status.
The jail authority voted to place Westrum on administrative leave Oct. 12, after his arrest in Bath on a charge of operating under the influence. Westrum pleaded not guilty to the charge in late November.
In the meantime, the 2016-2017 budget for Two Bridges Regional Jail remains under-expended due to a staff shortage at the jail, finance committee Chairman Hamilton Meserve said.
The jail has 10 openings for full-time corrections officers, Bailey said.
With other jails in the region paying corrections officers $18 to start, the $15 starting wage and the remainder of the pay scale for corrections officers should be re-examined, jail authority member Peter Lepari said.
