PARIS — Voters on Tuesday rejected by a vote of 265-472 a plan to have the Oxford County Sherriff’s Office provide law enforcement services.

“We are thrilled. We believe in our Police Department,” said resident Kathy Richardson. She and her husband, Jack, were among about a dozen voters who waited when the polls closed at 8 p.m. to hear the results of the referendum question.

“We want to move ahead to make this the best Police Department around,” she said.

The vote means selectmen will begin searching for a permanent chief Thursday and voters will act on the Police Department budget of $591,392 at the annual town meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Fire Station on Western Avenue.

The police budget includes funding for five patrolmen, the chief and a school resource officer. It also includes sending three officers to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, a state requirement for full-time officers, and overtime to cover those officers’ shifts during their 18-week training.

The total cost of keeping the department, including necessary capital improvements such as a new police car and an upgrade to a new radio system, is $656,894 for 2013-14.

The Sheriff’s Office contract would have cost the town $548,159 for the first year, including start-up costs, and $428,077 for the second year.

Under the proposed agreement with the county, Paris police would have been given the opportunity to apply for deputy positions, but Sheriff Wayne Gallant said recently that his department doesn’t hire officers without academy training. If the agreement had been approved, the three Paris officers without academy training would not be eligible for deputy positions.

Interim Chief Jerry Hinton has defended the department, saying it has professional officers and a budget developed by former interim Chief Michael Dailey. Hinton said these factors make a strong department.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Sam Elliot, who was re-elected Tuesday, said he was pleased with the vote. He called it “very definitive.”

“This settles the matter, and now we can just move forward,” he said.

A total of 858 voters cast ballots at the annual town election Tuesday, including 58 by absentee ballot.

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