MACHIAS, Maine — Sheriff Donnie Smith has invited every lawyer in Washington County to attend a January luncheon to discuss his department’s civil process division.

Smith recently came under fire from a group of eight Calais-based lawyers who charged that there are lengthy delays in service and that travel fees by civil service deputies are costing their clients more than in other counties.

Smith has denied both accusations.

The lawyers group asked the Calais City Council to serve as mediator but both sides said last week’s meeting to discuss the issue deteriorated and became confrontational.

In an interview last Friday with the Bangor Daily News, Calais lawyer John Churchill said, “I can tell you the problems associated with civil service are worse today than ever and the sheriff is totally uncooperative. I can get papers served in Phoenix, Ariz., cheaper than I can in Calais, Maine.”

Churchill said that papers served in a domestic violence case in November cost $18 in Penobscot County and $86 in Calais. The costs include the services fee and the deputy’s travel costs.

Smith told the Calais City Council that it is financially impossible for him to put a civil process deputy in each town that desires one.

Three deputies in Washington County now are assigned to serve civil documents such as those related to divorces, bankruptcies, credit card debts, child custody issues, foreclosures or summonses, among others. According to Smith, one deputy each is assigned to the northern, eastern and western sectors of the county, and they live in Princeton, East Machias and Addison. The deputies serve the paperwork five days a week and are subcontractors.

Smith said that travel fees charged by the deputies often accumulate when the person to be served cannot be found or is unavailable and the deputy must make several trips before the paperwork can be served.

Smith said last week that 1,847 papers have gone through the county’s civil process division so far in 2009. He said that only 40 of those papers came from the Calais lawyers, just 2 percent of service.

“No one else has complained,” Smith told the council.

Smith said Monday that the luncheon will provide an opportunity for an open exchange among all county lawyers and, it is hoped, will result in suggestions or ideas that can make the Sheriff’s Department work more smoothly.

The luncheon and discussion is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, at the Blue Bird Restaurant in Machias.