SABATTUS — For the second time in four years, residents will meet to discuss the possibility of disbanding its Police Department in favor of coverage by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office.

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at Sabattus Primary School, 36 No Name Pond Road.

Officials will present ideas, including spending $590,000 for police services from the county. That would involve disbanding the Sabattus Police Department.

A second idea is spending about $825,000 to fund its department, which has had frequent officer turnover and a lack of a permanent chief.

For some, the discussion will be a familiar one. In the fall of 2021, a special town meeting was called to decide whether the department would stay or disband in favor of coverage by the county. Roughly 80% of voters opted to keep the local force.

This time around, the police force is in worse shape. Town officials said they frequently lose officers who quit to head to other departments after the town has paid for their training.

In addition, the town has been without a full-time police chief since Erik Baker quit in December 2024 as police chief and interim town manager.

David Kurz who has served with a variety of departments since his career began in 1974, has been filling the gap until a permanent police chief is found.

The search for a chief has been ongoing, even as the town explores the possibility of disbanding the department in favor of county coverage.

Meanwhile, the town is again without a town manager. After Baker quit, Stephen Eldridge was hired to serve until after the annual town meeting in June. However, he recently quit, leaving the town to prepare for the big meeting without leadership.

It was unclear why Eldridge left. Messages left for him Monday were forwarded to other town officials.

County Sheriff Eric Samson will take part in Tuesday’s discussion.

He said Monday that his department is prepared to offer an arrangement identical to the one it has with Poland. In that type of arrangement, a deputy would be dedicated to the town of Sabattus so response times to emergencies would not change.

In 2021, Samson attended town meetings to describe what services his department can offer. He said he doesn’t try to influence the town either way; his role is to present what county services would look like.

Samson said he understands why some towns are unwilling to give up their departments no matter how much they struggle.

“There’s a public sentiment to it,” Samson said. “It’s their police department, just like it’s their library, like it’s their schools.”