Jan 06, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
BAR HARBOR AND MOUNT DESERT—A December 30 joint memo from the town managers of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert suggested pausing further consolidation of the two towns’ police forces for a bit.
The departments have been sharing some services for more than a decade and work under one police chief.
The badges have both names on them: Bar Harbor and Mount Desert. Both names emblazon the patrol vehicles from the two towns and in the last 12 years, the departments have merged operations and procedures, internal phone lines, and more.
“We really have become (one) virtual agency as far as the court is concerned and as far as the state’s concerned,” Mount Desert and Bar Harbor Police Chief David Kerns said at a July 28 meeting of both the Mount Desert Select Board and the Bar Harbor Town Council.
However, the financials for the employees and liabilities haven’t been perfectly combined.
“I think it makes a lot of sense. I think we should do it,” said Mount Desert Selectboard member Martha Dudman after Chief Kerns’ July presentation.
Now, that potential full merger is slowing down a bit.
“With the retirement of Town Manager (Durlin) Lunt, staff slowed work to allow for a new town manager to be hired. Since then we have continued to work collaboratively with one another and with our police department leadership in order to evaluate the operational, governance, and risk considerations associated with this concept. While there remains mutual interest and strong support for this police services agreement, we have jointly determined that it is also appropriate to slow the pace of this process at this time,” the memo by Bar Harbor Town Manager James Smith and Mount Desert Town Manager Alex Kimball reads.
In July, a proposal written by Chief Kerns outlined a plan to fully integrate all police and dispatch personnel under Bar Harbor’s administration while maintaining existing service levels in both communities.
The memo goes on to say that both managers are familiarizing themselves with the relationship between the two towns. Smith was hired in late 2023, beginning in November of that year. Kimball began work in early September 2025.
“Slowing this process provides all parties ample time to discuss and review the prior history of this arrangement and afford sufficient time to work through the finer details and information that has been gathered and prepared in order to develop a comprehensive and complete final service agreement,” the managers wrote. “This work needs to include governance and management oversight, methods for resolving disagreements, decision-making related to service enhancements or new investments, and equitable approaches to cost sharing and risk allocation.”
The goal is to reduce administrative work, improve how operations in both towns align and “significantly reduce legal exposures.”
“At the same time, it is essential that the oversight responsibilities and authorities, as well as financial commitments are clearly defined. This will ensure that both governing bodies have a complete and accurate understanding of the implications and long-term considerations associated with this proposed agreement,” the men wrote.
The Mount Desert Selectboard held three executive sessions prior to its regular meeting, January 5. One of those sessions focused on “potential pay impacts related to Mount Desert and Bar Harbor pending police merger.”
Since 2013, the towns have shared services and some positions. The towns first shared a police chief, and since then have integrated services while also maintaining positions that were officially within one town or the other. Since then, the towns have shared its records system, computerized dispatch services, and other aspects of call response and record keeping. It operates on one radio frequency and submits reports to the Maine court system as one department.
Currently, the towns cost share for the chief, captain, mental health liaison, administrative assistant, and public safety operations coordinator positions. All except the public safety operations coordinator are employed by Bar Harbor. All of the sergeant positions, which are supervisory, are Bar Harbor employees but one is funded by Mount Desert.
Disclosure: Carrie Jones used to part-time dispatcher for the Mount Desert Police and Fire Departments. Shaun Farrar used to be a police sergeant in Bar Harbor.
BRIEFS AND PRESS RELEASES SINCE YESTERDAY
You can find all of our briefs/press releases and past news stories here. Just the briefs are here.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Consider Full Police Merger
Bar Harbor May Take Over Mount Desert Police Staffing in Full Consolidation Plan
More about the Bar Harbor Police Department including staffing numbers, locations, and employment opportunities is at its dedicated website here.
Emergency: 911
Non-Emergency: (207) 288-3391
Bar Harbor Station:
37 Firefly Lane, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Mount Desert Station:
21 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor, ME 04662
To apply for a position email recruitment@barharbormaine.gov or head to this link.
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