By Guy Page
Vermont should amend its Constitution because miscreant sheriffs like Franklin County’s John Grismore can’t be impeached under current law, House impeachment panel leaders told Senate Democrats Tuesday, January 30.
Speaking at the Senate Democratic Caucus, both Rep. Martin Lalonde (D-South Burlington) Rep. Mike McCarthy (D-St. Albans) said Prop 1 would give the Legislature more say in sheriff’s electoral qualifications and removal from office.
Proposal 1, on the Senate Journal notice calendar for upcoming review, adds the following language (in bold) to the Vermont Constitution language about county officers:
ELECTION OF ASSISTANT JUDGES, SHERIFFS, AND STATE’S ATTORNEYS
“The Assistant Judges shall be elected by the voters of their respective districts as established by law. Their judicial functions shall be established by law. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of February next after their election.
Sheriffs shall be elected by the voters of their respective districts as established by law. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of February next after their election. The General Assembly may establish by law qualifications for the election to and holding of such office.
State’s Attorneys shall be elected by the voters of their respective districts as established by law. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of February next after their election.
Lalonde and McCarthy said that they learned during this summer’s impeachment investigation – held mostly behind closed doors – that they can’t impeach Grismore under current law because his alleged offenses occurred before he was elected sheriff, and even decertified sheriffs remain immune from impeachment.
The panel won’t make an official decision until it sees a final report from the DRM, the firm it hired for the investigation.
Grismore is accused of kicking a shackled prisoner in the groin and of pension-related impropriety. But – both Lalonde and McCarthy pointed out – these incidents occurred beforee he was elected sheriff. So under Vermont law and Constitution and precedent in other states, he can’t be impeached.
Grismore has been decertified by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council – meaning he’s no longer a licensed cop. The Vermont Sheriff’s Association wants him to resign. Even the editor of the local paper wants him to resign. But it’s not enough to force Grismore out of office, said a clearly frustrated McCarthy, who characterized his county sheriff’s position thusly:
“The fact that they were elected for a four-year term, even despite of having their professional certification removed for cause, and in spite of everything that’s come to light and the editor of the newspaper and former law enforcement and his fellow sheriffs asking him to resign [and Grismore] is saying, ‘Nah, nope, the voters voted me, in I’m going to sit here, I’m going to do this job from a desk, without the ability to carry a gun and perform law enforcement duties, I’m going to defy that and I’m going to defy all of these calls. I was elected.’”
“My constituents in Franklin County can’t believe that we don’t already have this kind of a mechanism or the power to even debate one,” McCarthy said. “ So what Senator Hardy’s great work in Senate Gov Ops did was to say the General Assembly should be able to set some of these qualifications.”
Sen. Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) chairs Senate Government Operations, which voted out the Proposal to the Senate floor. Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison) noted that proposed amendment doesn’t specify what qualifications could, or could not, be required. Hardy said that would be up to future Legislatures.
After both Lalonde and McCarthy said the impeachment process is “arduous,” Bray said maybe it should be arduous to unseat a elected official, and asked if any thought had been given to finetuning the impeachment process. Lalonde said in the process can’t be streamlined.
Another senator asked about whether a recall option had been considered for the constitutional amendment. Hardy said the state’s constitutional founders appeared to have considered and rejected that option. It was noted that recalls are often highly politically charged.
Senate Judiciary Chair Richard Sears (D-Bennington) said he co-sponsored Prop 1 only after failing to get much support for a Sheriff Accountability bill last year.
Constitutional amendments require at least 2/3 approval in the Senate.
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Local government
I’m certain that the Constitution of VT won’t be amended to ensure the impeachment of miscreant legislators though, of course. Why not be honest, idiots? Just amend the VT Constitution so that only republicans can be impeached – the way the US Congress has apparently done.
wow/// wow/// the sheriff that stood his ground/// like to see some arrests made/// never going to happen/// the public is to stupid/// any questions///
https://makeameme.org/meme/power-i-must
The irony of this statement:
“‘Nah, nope, the voters voted me, in I’m going to sit here, I’m going to do this job from a desk, without the ability to carry a gun and perform law enforcement duties, I’m going to defy that and I’m going to defy all of these calls. I was elected”
How many more communist amendments are they planning on making?
Why don’t you make a few phone calls to the rest of the sheriffs in the state and ask them how much time they spend patrolling! You will quickly find out that most of them do exactly what Sheriff Grismore is going to do, they run their departments from their desks. This is not an abnormal practice. Let’s ask Sheriff Anderson, who asked Sheriff Grismore to resign without polling all of the Sheriffs, on behalf of the Sheriffs Association, ask him how much time he spends running his department from a cruiser, not a desk! There are many professions where businesses are run without degrees and certifications, it doesn’t make those folks running them any less qualified. The focus in this case should be the money that tax payers have spent to entertain this circus. Maybe take a good look at how much he has done within the office to help the communities he serves and how far he has taken the office in such a short time and with so many hurdles.
i am looking at miss appropriation of funds/// these clowns stayed on the government payroll all summer/// we want our money back please///
Thank you Sheriff Grismore for representing the people who voted for you. We all saw the alleged kick to the groin over and over. We witnessed all the people so ready to jump on the guilty band wagon without knowing all the facts. I still believe in ” innocent until proven guilty”. I never saw a kick to the groin. I saw a shove to the pelvic area forcing the unruly prisoner to sit down. I do not support police brutality and I did not see this as a case of police brutality. I voted for you . I resent the legislature attempting to take my vote away. I think it is terrible that The Vermont Criminal Justice Council took away some of your ability to do a sheriff’s job. I don’t care if the Vt. Sheriff’s Asso. wants you to resign. I knew the great committee that took months of closed door meetings would not have the right to impeach you. Why did it take months for them to reach the same conclusion? Thank you again.r
Why do cultists wear their stupid trump swag to his rallies.
It’s like they want the rest of the world to know they are morons.
These people are such dim wits. As is typical especially of the rep from Franklin County, they did so much grandstanding about their work on this. And yet….they could and should have known back before they ever started this escapade, that the Sheriff couldn’t be impeached for conduct that occurred before being elected. And worse. They took pay during the summer for the work, and garnered oodles of soundbite press time for their grandstanding heroics. Politicking and self-glorifying at our expense on something that turns out to be a BIG SHAM. Just awful. Awful. Let’s hold them accountable at the ballot box in November. We can do MUCH better than this clown show, folks.
Such a colossal waste of time by our law enforcement hating legislators. Common sense abounds in Franklin county as they re elected their Sheriff who used appropriate force to respond to the assault crime of spitting on others (remember the disease that can be conveyed through this?) by pushing the spitter, who had already spit previously, with his foot, to stay as far away from the spit as possible. So simple. Those virtuous legislators should feel foolish for the time wasted on this, but they will tell themselves otherwise.
amerika is finished
I don’t get it. Why don’t they just arrest him for assault. Also get rid of all these “protected persons” illegal BS laws they have, and make all persons “protected persons” from assault and threatening. Power hungry perverts.
the st. albans town select board gave the next police contract to the city for ten years/// they never backed the sheriff during this time period///a deal was set up between the st. albans city and town managers///this has a bad smell/// it will cost the town a million dollars more for the first year/// i would suggest the town vote down there next years budget and move to void this contract///
Do we have a grand total of the time and money wasted on the taxpayers “behalf” and dimes for this dog and pony show? Or do we simply add it to the bill and keep pretending we have representation of any type or stripe under the Golden Thunder Dome? They certainly don’t pay any attention to the shenigans going on in Bennington County. Likely because the lucrative land deals, blatant nepotism, and shut up money is too good for law enforcement to expose and prosecute. In-laws and outlaws running the scams with impunity in every County.
By the way, that photo of being kicked in the groin is exactly what our representatives and elected officials do to us every day – front side and back side – and we get to pay for the pleasure!
well, it was not a kick/// just a toe tickle to the belly button/// must be truth full///
Perhaps it is time to impeach Chittenden County SA Sarah George. She has not done her job, and this was after she was elected by the people, so she has a responsibility to prosecute offenders. She had refused to prosecute three people for murder (2 people) and one attempted murder suspect. The governor then had the Attorney General’s office take on these cases and all three defendants were found guilty. I addition, SA George has declined to prosecute minor cases, or even permit law enforcement to use existing laws to justify looking for more serious offenses being committed (stopping cars for minor offenses but finding impaired drivers). Perhaps they would be spinning their wheels for an impeachment process because the democrats would not vote against one of their own. I wonder how they would feel if one of their own family members was to become a victim of a crime and then have SA George decline to prosecute the offender.
sarah george wanted out of office poster/// please// place in your front yard/// cheap message/// make sure you have an appropriate photo to express your displeasure///