Lincoln County commissioners on Tuesday gave the Sheriff’s Office permission to send officers to two out-of-state training courses in September, one on obtaining evidence from mobile devices, the other on integrated responses to large violent events such as mass shootings.

The device training and food and travel costs for Det. Scott Hayden are being paid for completely by the training group. The training is in Hoover, Alabama. The other conference is not paid for,  and is in the sheriff’s budget. It will be in Aurora, Colorado, and is expected to cost $1,600 each for two attendees. The program will complement what the county Emergency Management Agency is working on with fire departments.

Commissioners approved the Sheriff’s Office’s proposal that seeks $10,728 from the federal Byrne Grant program, which funds evidence kits, cameras and records management. LCSO was invited to apply based on the county’s crime statistics, Chief Deputy Rand Maker said. The commissioners approved the grant proposal.

With more towns coming in to the county-based Animal Control Officer program, the Sheriff’s Office received permission to advertise for more ACOs. Sheriff Todd Brackett suggested that, before the next budget talks,  commissioners consider whether or not a part-time ACO program suffices.

The department lost a reserve deputy who took on new duties at the Department of Corrections. Deputy Dwight Fowles’s letter of resignation was accepted with regret. Alonzo Connor, who had recently resigned to take a full-time job with Gardiner Police Department, was hired to do part-time reserve deputy duties. Dan Sceviour, who came to the meeting to meet the commissioners, is another full-time deputy who retired, but has been rehired to serve part-time.

County Administrator Carrie Kipfer is taking a role in the Maine bicentennial celebration in Lincoln County. She said the county will be publishing a list of activities in each town, provided by Lincoln County Historical Association. She hopes the costs may be defrayed by a grant fund set up by Gov. Janet Mills to fund bicentennial activities in each county. She also announced a recycling forum to be held at Round Top Thursday, Aug. 22, at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public.