BATH

Mark Westrum, the correctional administrator of Two Bridges Regional Jail, was arrested and charged in Bath on Friday night for operating under the influence.

Westrum, 55, of Bath was stopped at 9:44 p.m. on Front Street at the back of the Hampton Inn.

Bath Police Lt. Robert Savary said police stopped Westrum because he was driving at night with no headlights, a motor vehicle infraction.

Police said there were indications Westrum was under the influence and after an investigation at the scene, he was arrested, taken into custody and brought to the Bath police station. During that process, he was administered a field sobriety test as well as a breathalyzer test.

Savary said Westrum was released on personal recognizance and is scheduled to appear in West Bath District Court on Nov. 22.

A call to Westrum at Two Bridges Regional Jail on Tuesday morning was directed to another staff member’s voicemail.

Mary Trescot, a Lincoln County commissioner who chairs the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority, said Tuesday morning that the authority is not releasing any information at this time.

She said the jail authority has called a special meeting today at 4 p.m. at the jail to address the issue, at which point more information will be available.

Westrum served as sheriff for Sagadahoc County from 1993 to 2008. He resigned as sheriff to become the jail’s administer in 2008, after facing an allegation he inappropriately touched a former employee during a 2006 fishing trip. Westrum denied the charge and an investigator employed by the Sagadahoc County commissioners found no “reliable basis” on which to determine the validity of the accusation.

The former employee also alleged he was targeted by Westrum after testifying against Westrum in a grievance hearing involving another deputy. The investigation found no evidence of retaliation, however.

Westrum’s resignation followed months of strife within the sheriff ’s department, including votes by the union representing department employees calling for the removal of Westrum’s chief deputy at the time, Joseph “Jay” Manhardt, for alleged abuse of authority along with a no confidence vote against Westrum. Manhardt resigned days before Westrum agreed to take the helm at Two Bridges after serving two months as interim corrections administrator following the sudden resignation of Leonard LeGrand.

Westrum served on the committee that began planning Two Bridges — the first regional jail in Maine. Westrum also was chairman of the authority when the $24.6 million jail opened in Wiscasset in November 2006 with 120 beds.

Westrum served as president of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association from 1999 to 2001, and again in 2003, while he was the Sagadahoc County sheriff. He served as chairman of the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority from 2003 until 2007. He was elected president of the Maine Jail Administrators Association in 2011.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

Reaction …

• MARY TRESCOT, a Lincoln County commissioner who chairs the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority, said Tuesday that the authority is not releasing any information at this time.

She said the jail authority has called a special meeting today at 4 p.m. at the jail to address the issue.

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