About the Sheriff:
Sheriff Christopher Wainwright was elected Oxford County Sheriff in November 2018, and was sworn into office in January 2019. He started his law enforcement career at the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office 30 years ago when he was hired as a patrol deputy. Throughout the course of his career in Oxford County, he has held every rank within the department. He has spent over 20 years in the United States Army Reserve where he has served multiple overseas deployments. In the early 2000s, he was assigned to the U.S. State Department as a police advisor in Kosovo, and in 2009, he served with the U.S. Army in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A few of his notable accolades include being a graduate of the 224th class of the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy, earning the National Sheriff’s Association Medal of Valor, and being twice awarded the Maine Sheriff’s Association Presidential Award for Valor.
Civil Process Division:
The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office continues to manage its civil process division with two full time law enforcement officers. The program has been very successful by serving an average of 2,700 papers a year, which brings in approximately $140,000.00 in cash receipts. In 2019, the civil division served and returned 91 percent of the papers received. On average, eight-eight percent of these papers are served within 2.8 days. The civil deputies are supported by one full-time civilian staffer.
All papers are first processed through the administrative office for tracking, and then are assignment and identified by Defendant and Plaintiff. At any given time, the administrative office can identify the location and status of any individual paper. Additionally, the administrative staff is responsible for billing and receiving payments.
Civil deputies are Maine Criminal Justice Academy certified LEO’s in uniform, armed and operate a marked police vehicle. These deputies are available to a rural patrol division, which is made up of five deputy shifts, and are responsible for patrolling a 2,100 square mile area. They assist with car crashes, domestic violence calls, and any other emergencies requiring a multiple unit response.
According to Sheriff Wainwright, the use of full-time employees provides him the ability to establish quality standards, controls in work flow, and accountability in work product.
Patrol Division:
The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division employs 23 full-time deputies who cover over 2,100 square miles, which is divided into three zones: South, Central, and North each having a deputy assigned, a patrol supervisor who oversees daily operations, as well as a deputies contracted in the towns of Dixfield and Bethel
Jail:
The Oxford County Jail has been a 72-hour holding facility for the past decade. While initially this restructuring saved Oxford County some tax dollars, it certainly did not save enough to make up for the loss of services that were provided by inmates to the local municipalities in community service.
Inmates were and are housed in other full-service jails that are much further away. The increased distances have led to decreased visitation by family and friends which ultimately adversely affect inmate morale. This distance also created difficulties for attorneys to meet with their clients and work on their pending criminal cases.
Upon the dissolution of the Board of Corrections, Oxford County was forced to contract with other county jails to house inmates for longer than the 72 hours allowed. This change has led to increased boarding costs in comparison to housing inmates within the county.
The goal of Sheriff Wainwright is to return to a full-service jail. Each county jail should be managed and funded by their local taxes, as well as state money to help offset the costs.
Law Reports:
For law reports, Deanna Petrie can be reached Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm excluding holidays.
Please submit your requests to dpetrie@oxfordcountysheriff.com or by calling (207)743-9554 option 5 or fax to (207) 743-1510.
All records requests will be completed as soon as possible (usually within 48 business hours).
Standard Incident/accident reports are $15.00 each and photos or videos are $25. Deputies have up to five (5) days to complete a standard accident report, while accident reconstruction reports may take longer. Please be advised that reports will not be released until they have been completed and approved by a supervisor.
To request a full criminal history check on an individual, please visit the Maine.gov website.
Accident Reports:
To purchase an accident report online:
https://buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com
You will be asked to enter the name of the insured or the accident report number.
Non-criminal Fingerprinting:
Non-Criminal Fingerprints are conducted for employment, adoptions, and foster care purposes.
To ask a question about fingerprinting, please contact Oxford County Jail at: (207) 743-9554 ext. 118
Concealed Weapons Permit:
Concealed Weapons Permit applications are available through Maine State Police for the exception of the Town of Dixfield. Please reach out to the Dixfield Town Managers Office at 207-562-8151 to obtain your packet.
