UPDATE: Secretary of State might not certify LePage’s choice for Kennebec sheriff

AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul LePage announced Thursday that he would appoint Kenneth Mason, a Democrat, to the post of sheriff for Kennebec County after a monthslong dispute with the county’s Democratic Committee.

Democrats had asked LePage to appoint interim Sheriff Ryan Reardon to the post, but LePage refused, saying the committee had only offered him one choice, yet state law mandates he be provided with a list of possible choices.

“The constitution says they will give me a list of names. Well, one name doesn’t make a list,” LePage said Thursday just prior to his announcement.

The post was vacant after LePage appointed former Sheriff Randall Liberty, a Democrat, to serve as warden at the Maine State Prison in Warren.

Under state law, the county party committee of the departing sheriff, an elected position in Maine, is required to submit replacement recommendations to the governor.

In October 2015, the county committee selected interim Sheriff Ryan Reardon to fill the post. Chief Deputy Ken Mason of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office also wanted the job, but the committee decided this month not to forward his name to LePage, according to the Kennebec Journal.

Whoever the governor appoints as sheriff would serve until November, when a special election would be held to fill the remainder of Liberty’s term in 2018.

Reardon has filed with the Maine Ethics Commission to run for sheriff as a Democrat.

“With everything that has occurred in the last five months, it has been important that I continue to concentrate on the work that needs to be done at the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office,” he said in a prepared statement. “There are a lot of projects, programs and decisions that need to be made every day.  … I will continue to focus on that aspect. I look forward to the election in November where the citizens of Kennebec County will decide for themselves.”

But the question of who will run the department of more than 130 employees between now and the election appeared Thursday to be headed for a political showdown.

LePage said Thursday that he expected Kennebec County Democrats to challenge the appointment of Mason.

“So I’m going to name somebody today, and they are not going to like it, and they are going to sue me,” LePage said. “And I hope that we can go to the Supreme Court. We will bring it all the way to the Supreme Court and get it decided.”

A leader of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee said she would leave it to county commissioners to determine how to respond.

“As I understand it, if the governor should appoint a sheriff whose name was not submitted by the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, and if the secretary of state should sign off on that appointment, the matter would no longer be up to our committee,” said Rita Moran, chairwoman of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee. “At that point, it would be in the hands of the Kennebec County government, still short one commissioner despite of the fact that our committee sent the governor two excellent nominees last October.”

In a release Thursday announcing Mason, LePage reiterated his desire to have more than one candidate to choose from.

“Repeatedly, I have asked for at least two names as required by the law, but Democrats continue to play silly games and I have had enough,” LePage said in a prepared statement. 

Last month, Attorney General Janet Mills wrote a letter to Moran suggesting the law was on LePage’s side when it came to having choices.

“While the intent of the statute is not entirely clear, the use of the words ‘choose’ and ‘recommendations’ seem to imply that if the committee submits recommendations, the names of more than one qualified individual should be submitted,” Mills wrote.

Mason, who holds the rank of major in the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, is a Kennebec County resident who has more than 30 years experience in law enforcement and is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, according to LePage’s release.

Born and raised in the Augusta area, Mason was appointed chief deputy in 2005.

Mason also served as a patrol officer with the Augusta Police Department beginning in 1987, where he served as a field training officer instructing and training new hires on patrol functions. 

Mason is a graduate of Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale.

Bangor Daily News staff writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.