By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

Former Franklin County State’s Attorney John Lavoie, who resigned under pressure of possible impeachment in August 2023, has filed nominating petitions to regain the prosecutor’s post as an Independent in the General Election in November.

Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas confirmed Friday afternoon to Vermont News First that Lavoie had submitted his nominating petitions with signatures by the Thursday deadline.

Lavoie, reached by phone, said he received an email on Friday that said the signatures had been validated and that he had been cleared to be on the ballot in November.  

“I feel I have unfinished business, and I care about the county that I served for 20 years,” Lavoie said when asked why he was running.  

The longtime St. Albans resident said he submitted about 150 signatures, but only needed 100.  He said he was able to collect them between Monday and Wednesday.

Lavoie said he has been inactive in his law career, but has been busy, including caring for a friend and continues to run to stay in shape.

Lavoie will presumably square off in November against Zach Weight of St. Albans, who is uncontested for the Republican nomination in the primary Election on Tuesday.  There is no announced Democrat candidate.

The news about Lavoie running came one day after veteran Franklin County State’s Attorney Jim Hughes announced that he was endorsing Weight.  Weight said he had consulted with Hughes leading up to the Primary Election. 

Weight, 40, has been a lawyer for more than 13 years and spent seven years as a defense lawyer in Franklin County.  For much of the past four years he has been a deputy state’s attorney in Washington County.  He moved last month to St. Albans.

Lavoie declined to comment on Weight’s campaign, focusing on his statement about unfinished business and love of the county. 

Weight, however, came out swinging.

“John Lavoie’s decision to seek office again is a profound disappointment to Franklin County. Slapping an ‘independent’ label on a campaign does not erase a legacy of substantiated harassment and discrimination. His tenure ended in a bipartisan impeachment effort caused entirely by his own discriminatory behavior and disgraceful conduct. John Lavoie quit to avoid real accountability for his own intentional conduct. Franklin County cannot afford to repeat the chaos of the Lavoie administration,” Weight told Vermont News First.

“The people of Franklin County, and the State’s Attorney’s Office, deserve leadership defined by integrity and transparency, focused on promoting accountability and public safety. The State’s Attorney’s office requires ethical leadership. I am the only candidate in this race committed to ensuring the State’s Attorney’s Office is defined by respect, accountability, integrity, and true justice,” he said in his email to VNF.

Lavoie had been a target of a closed-door investigation in 2023 by a House Impeachment Committee which had been taking statements from co-workers and others about comments reportedly made by Lavoie. Multiple allegations made in February 2023 by employees at the office of the Franklin County State’s Attorney were found credible and were substantiated including additional incidents not initially disclosed in the early complaints, officials had said in May 2023.

Vermont News First initially broke the news in August 2023 that Lavoie had opted to resign instead of fighting the complaints.

The House Impeachment Committee then focused on possible misconduct by Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore, but after spending close to $1 million between the two cases, opted to take no action.

Lavoie said, at the time, he asked for a printed copy of the investigative report about him but had been refused.

He said it was hard to defend himself against the claims without knowing what was said. Lavoie said he also asked to speak to the executive board of the Vermont State’s Attorneys but got no response.

Lavoie also said in 2023 he offered an apology to all the staff members during an office meeting in May of that year when the complaints became known. There were about a dozen full and part-time employees, mostly women, in the office.

Lavoie did acknowledge at the time he may have made comments in his lengthy career that could be considered outdated in today’s modern era.

Lavoie, who was a longtime deputy prosecutor in the office, was elected in November 2022 to succeed Hughes, the longtime State’s Attorney, who was retiring. Lavoie began overseeing the office in late summer when Hughes departed but was not officially sworn in until February 1.

He served as a deputy prosecutor for about 35 years, including two stints at the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office for about 10 years. He also had short stops in Bennington County, the Vermont Drug Task Force, and the Vermont Office of Child Support.

The current Franklin County State’s Attorney, Bram Kranichfeld was appointed by Gov. Scott to finish bail out the office three years ago.  He was initially appointed interim state’s attorney and later received the permanent appointment from Scott.

Kranichfeld announced in March he would be seeking to return to the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office as its the top prosecutor.  He had been the chief deputy and later served as head of the criminal division for Attorney General T.J. Donovan.

Kranichfeld of Burlington is squaring off against State’s Attorney Sarah F. George of Colchester in the Chittenden County Democratic Primary Election on Tuesday.

Gov. Scott picked Weight last Fall to help bail out the criminal court in Chittenden County.  He was named a Special Prosecutor when the Governor helped create an Accountability Court to help attack the backlog of criminal cases caused by repeat career criminals and a revolving courthouse door in recent years.  

There were about 890 pending criminal cases involving 103 defendants when the Accountability Court began in October.  ​​Weight helped dispose of about 700 charges involving about 80 of the defendants by working to get them treatment and other services between October 2025 and February 2026.