ELLSWORTH — A consortium of weekly and daily newspapers in Maine has announced that in-depth coverage of the Maine Statehouse and state government will continue under an agreement reached with Christopher Cousins, who has been a Maine journalist for the past 10 years.

Cousins will succeed Victoria Wallack, who has been the owner and sole employee of Statehouse News Service since it was founded in 2004. Wallack announced this month her acceptance of a position as director of communications for the Maine School Management Association.

Statehouse News Service, under the new agreement, serves two daily and nine weekly newspapers. The newspapers involved are the Boothbay Register, the Capital Weekly in Augusta, the Camden Herald, the Courier-Gazette in Rockland, The Ellsworth American, the Journal Tribune in Biddeford, the Lincoln County News in Damariscotta, the Mount Desert Islander in Bar Harbor, The Republican Journal in Belfast, The Times Record in Brunswick and Wiscasset Newspaper.

The concept of Statehouse News Service was hatched by Wallack and Alan Baker, publisher of The Ellsworth American.

“Victoria Wallack has provided the member newspapers’ readers with comprehensive news coverage of state government, from the capital. Her reports have been balanced and informative, and her work has earned kudos from all quarters. While we shall miss her extraordinary work ethic, we are reassured that Chris Cousins has accepted the challenge to take over the beat Victoria has served so well,” said Baker.

Cousins, a lifelong Maine resident, began his journalism career at his hometown weekly newspaper, the Advertiser Democrat in Norway. In 1999, Cousins moved to The Times Record, where he reported on various beats including Bath Iron Works and Brunswick Naval Air Station, the latter through the federal government’s decision to close it in 2011. In 2006, after garnering numerous awards over the years from the Maine and New England press associations, Cousins was selected for a one-year fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where he studied writing and various aspects of the challenges facing economic development in Maine. He returned to The Times Record in June 2007 as its city editor, a position he has held ever since.

Cousins said Tuesday that this new assignment represents a welcome and exciting challenge.

“The opportunity to return to writing and cover state government was one that I couldn’t pass up,” said Cousins. “Victoria Wallack has established herself as a fair and thorough reporter who brought valuable insights to readers from a wide range of sources. Her reports have been comprehensive and aggressive, qualities I intend to continue.”

Cousins will begin filing reports from Augusta by mid-October. He and his wife, Jennifer, plan to relocate to the Augusta area with their son.