During last fall’s tough re-election campaign, Grafton County’s self-proclaimed “Register of Good Deeds” came under fire from his opponent for not spending enough time in the office. On Wednesday morning, I stopped by Bill Sharp’s workplace to see how he was faring five months after narrowly winning another term in the $56,000-a-year job.

When I walked into the Grafton County government center at 11:25 a.m., Sharp’s staff was busy at the customer service counter filing mortgages, deeds and other important records.

Across from the counter, a blue curtain covered the window to Sharp’s office, making it impossible to see inside. But the door was ajar and I saw the fluorescent lights glowing inside.

I strolled in and found Sharp at his desk, his beefy fingers poised on a computer mouse. He was snoring.

“Mr. Sharp?” I said.

Zzzzzzzzz.

“Bill?” I said, more loudly.

Sharp startled awake and then, as if he had simply drifted off mid-conversation, began pushing budget documents in my direction, talking about how the sagging real estate market had created a sharp decline in the nearly $1 million in revenue his office expected this year. “I think we’re going to come up about $100,000 short.”

Good to know. But what’s up with the late-morning siesta while your office is open for business and your staff — as best I can tell — is awake and alert?

Sharp, who recently turned 67, dragged both hands across his eyes and smoothed his white hair.

“You caught me,” he said, managing a small smile. “I was looking at the screen too tight. It was time for a cup of tea.”

After riding a tide of anti-Republican sentiment into the post in 2006, Sharp faced a spirited challenge last fall from Lynn Wheeler, a former Haverhill Selectwoman and self-employed title researcher. Among other criticisms leveled at Sharp, Wheeler said he was rarely at the office — and that when he was, he could sometimes be heard snoring at his desk.

After edging back into office with 50.7 percent of the vote, Sharp appears to be logging more hours at work. While he would only commit to being there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. last fall, Sharp said he now arrives by 9 and stays until 4 or 4:30 before leaving to make the bank deposit. (The office opens at 7:30 a.m.)

Wheeler was at the office recording some documents when I visited. “If nothing else, he’s here more than he was,” she said of Sharp. “He’s taking the job more seriously.”

Sharp offered me a cup of British tea, pouring one for himself and settling into a chair beside the checked red curtains in the staff lunchroom. He said that his move to put the office’s computer records system out to competitive bid saves the county better than $60,000 a year, and that the service has improved as well. “When we scan a document in here, within minutes it’s online.”

Last fall, Sharp said he sometimes fell asleep at his desk due to sleep apnea. He didn’t offer that explanation this week, saying only that the impromptu nap was an unusual event.

“The bottom line is: Are the people getting their value? They’re getting their value in more ways than one,” he said. “I’m awake and alert and working.”

I hope that’s not just in his dreams.