By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First

CHELSEA – Vermont authorities have received a complaint about whether a candidate running for Orange County Sheriff conducted political activity and election campaigning while on duty as a law enforcement officer during the summer.

Vermont News First has learned that Orange County Deputy Sheriff Jacob Held of Washington is the focus of complaints filed with the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, Vermont State Police and the Vermont Attorney General.

The allegations were made by a former Central Vermont law enforcement officer.  Victor A. Hinojosa wrote he believes Held sent campaign emails and did other political activity while on duty, according to a copy of the complaint letter obtained by Vermont News First.

Some of the questioned campaign work happened when Held was supposedly conducting contracted patrols in the towns of Washington and Williamstown for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the letter said.  It noted the timing of some campaign social media postings and activities matched up with the specific hours on time sheets Held submitted for patrol work in those towns in May, June and July.

Other communication through his sheriff’s office email involved exchanges with the Vermont Secretary of State over campaign issues or questions, the complaint said.

The complaint letter, which has 56 numbered paragraphs, accuses Deputy Held of professional misconduct, misuse of his official position and government resources and violation of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Code of Conduct.  There are 68 supporting exhibits linked to the complaint.

The letter also noted the statewide Law Enforcement Officers’ Code of Conduct is a condition for obtaining and maintaining state certification from the Criminal Justice Council.  It requires no misuse of an official positions for personal or economic gain.

“Held to the Highest Standard,” is the slogan used by the deputy’s campaign.

Held, a Republican, is squaring off in the General Election on Tuesday against Royalton Police Officer Sean McRae, a Democrat.  He also is a part-time certified officer.

McRae, reached Thursday night by phone, said he was unaware of the complaints or any investigation into his opponent.

There also were issues centering around the political booth for the Republican Party at the World’s Fair in Tunbridge in September, the letter said.  Held posted pictures of his current law enforcement identity as a deputy for his political campaign Facebook Page.  The complaint letter noted there were photographs from the fair that depicted him participating in the political booth while wearing law enforcement uniform items, including his badge and a holstered firearm, in conjunction with the “Held for Sheriff” campaign material.

Photographs at the booth also showed business cards listing Held as a deputy sheriff with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office identity displayed alongside, the letter noted.

The complaint asked the Criminal Justice Council to determine in its investigation which items displayed were publicly funded and whether Held was authorized to use them in his political campaign.

Hinojosa wrote that Orange County Sheriff George Contois confirmed in August that Held was the sole person with access to messages on the Facebook page for the office.

Attempts to reach Sheriff Contois on Thursday through his cellphone and office dispatch center were unsuccessful.  It was unclear if Contois has ordered an internal investigation in the case.

Hinojosa said his personal investigation began in May when he happened to notice Held was using his official sheriff’s office email for his contact address for his political campaign.

He said that sparked months of requests for public records and in-person inspections for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the towns of Washington and Williamstown, the Royalton Police, the Vermont Criminal Justice Council and the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.

Hinojosa said he found numerous questionable postings and emails on the accounts for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.  Among them was an exchange on the agency’s email system between Held and Capt. Robert Ryan, the office’s chief deputy.  Ryan was asked on March 3 by Held to look at a draft of his “Sheriff Announcement” for running for office.  Ryan responded two days later, “Looks good,” records show.

It was 10 days later when the “Held for Sheriff” Facebook campaign page posted a profile photograph of him in his Orange County Sheriff’s uniform.

There also was an issue of Held using his office email for both himself and his campaign treasurer, the letter said.

“This was not a private or incidental use of the government address;  the governmental address was presented to the public as an official means of contacting Deputy Held for personal campaign reasons, not official law enforcement matters,” Hinojosa wrote.

Hinojosa said in his 11-page complaint that he also investigated two other political candidates, including McRae this summer for the Orange County Sheriff’s race, but found nothing amiss with either.  The only work-related problems for a political campaign involved Held, he wrote.

Hinojosa, who worked in Vermont law enforcement 2019-2022, is a former deputy sheriff in Orange and Washington Counties and also did patrol stints with Berlin and Montpelier Police.  The Norwich University  graduate is currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Army.

Held told Vermont News First on Thursday he would be limited in what he could say.

“I am going to refrain from commenting on the investigation but my understanding is that a private citizen has submitted a complaint to the Vermont Criminal Justice Council regarding certain campaign-related activities,” he said in an email.

“I respect the process and believe it’s important to allow that process to take its course. A complaint is an allegation, not a finding of wrongdoing, and I intend to cooperate fully with any appropriate investigation,” Held said.

“I take my responsibilities as a law enforcement officer seriously, and I don’t think it would be appropriate to speculate about the outcome or try to litigate the details in a public forum before that process is complete,” he wrote.

Held’s statement did not mention the complaints fielded by Vermont State Police and the Vermont Attorney General.

Vermont State Police Detective Capt. Todd Wilkins, the department’s chief criminal investigator, confirmed that a complaint letter had been received at headquarters this month.  Wilkins said the letter is under review and he expects a decision will be made shortly as to whether to assign it to a detective in the field.

Chris Brickell, executive director of the Vermont Police Academy, would not confirm if a complaint had been received.  He said Vermont law provides that complaints to the police academy are considered confidential and can only be made public if, and when, there is a finding to file charges.

The office of Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark said on Thursday that it was not inclined to investigate the complaint.

“The alleged activity appears to implicate personnel/certification matters rather than elections law issues,” Clark’s Senior Advisor Haley Sommer told Vermont News First.

Sommer said any questions related to personnel issues should be directed to the employer of the law enforcement officer.  She said questions about certification of law enforcement officers should be directed to the police academy.

It was unclear why the complaint had not been shared with the Vermont Secretary of State, which oversees elections and has criminal investigators available to do cases.

Held began work as a civil process server for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in November 2024 and became a part-time Level II police officer the following year. He has moved up quickly in the department even when not certified as a fulltime police officer by the state.  Held was promoted from corporal to sergeant in September.

Held and McRae are seeking to replace Contois, who spent 29 years with Vermont State Police and 21 years with Orange County Sheriff’s Office.  Contois, who took over the troubled office Feb. 1, 2023 and found it in disarray, has said one term as the elected county sheriff was enough.

Former Republican Sheriff Bill Bohnyak, who served for 16 years, lost to Contois, a Democrat, by just over 100 votes in the General Election four years ago.  Bohnyak had been elected national president of the National Sheriffs Association just a few months earlier.

Contois had a rocky start as Orange County sheriff.  The Herald of Randolph reported Contois  arrived for the top job and found nearly all the deputy sheriffs and staff had left, the office bank accounts nearly empty, the desk drawers locked without keys and no passwords for the computers.

Also some equipment, including police cruisers had been sold to Randolph Police and other agencies, officials said at the time.

Contois spent his early months trying to recruit new deputies and fighting to retain his patrol contracts lost due to a lack of officers to fill shifts.  Several Orange County  towns opted to sign contracts with the Windsor County Sheriff’s Office.  Contois recently reported he had six deputies under him, including Held.

The primary functions for the elected county sheriffs in Vermont include transporting prisoners to and from prisons for court hearings, serving legal papers and providing court security.