HOULTON, Maine — A longtime deputy from the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office who performed numerous tasks and did “every one of them with a smile,” according to the sheriff, was lauded during her recent retirement party.
Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Kris Miller of Ludlow said goodbye to friends, colleagues and a large group of active and retired sheriff’s office employees 27 years after she first stepped through the doors of the facility into the position of corrections officer.
Miller declined to be interviewed, but Sheriff Darrell Crandall said Monday that she worked her way up from corrections to the transportation unit, where she was soon sworn in as a deputy sheriff and sent to the police academy. Miller later spent five years in the patrol division before being promoted to sergeant in the training and recruitment unit.
In 2013, through agency reorganization, Miller was placed in charge of communications while retaining her training and recruitment duties.
“She supervised the dispatch center and was responsible for 17 local fire, police and ambulance departments,” Crandall said. “That was in addition to being responsible for the training and recruitment of 70 full- and part-time officers. Along with that, she always filled in when needed, anywhere and everywhere.”
In 2015, Miller was named the Maine Sheriffs Association Deputy Sheriff of the Year.
Crandall said that during her retirement party at the sheriff’s office on June 30, 2016 Miller was presented a plaque and given a getaway to Boothbay Harbor by her colleagues.
Miller’s position will not be replaced, according to the sheriff. It will be converted to a patrol post which will provide a “much needed” deputy sheriff position to patrol south of Houlton.
