BARRE – The Twin City mayors Monday endorsed Scott Williams in his bid to replace Washington County State’s Attorney Thomas Kelley.
Flanking Williams on the Barre courthouse steps, Montpelier Mayor John Hollar and Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon said the county needs a new top prosecutor who will be smarter, rather than tougher, on crime and embrace alternative justice programs they say Kelley has resisted.
Kelley later rebuffed his opponent, saying his 27 years as a prosecutor and seven as state’s attorney give him experience that Williams lacks. He defended himself against the other allegations and criticized Williams for seeking political endorsements while running for an office that is thought of as apolitical.
Lauzon, a fifth-term Republican, and Hollar, a Democrat first elected in 2012, said Williams will work with the community and with police, rather than against them, as they said has happened at times during Kelley’s tenure.
“Change is needed and Scott’s the right candidate for this office,” said Hollar, who said he sought the advice of “many, many” stakeholders before choosing to endorse Williams.
Williams said he will also reduce the county’s case backlog. Williams said the backlog can be reduced by offering alternatives to strict punishment for drug addicts, for example, so his office can focus more time on prosecuting dangerous criminals, such as drug dealers.
He could not provide a specific number of cases in the backlog but said he last checked in January and it was “hundreds.” Kelley said the backlog is caused by court scheduling and is beyond his control.
Williams also said Kelley’s office has not paid enough attention to victims.
“The voice of victims is not being heard in a meaningful way in our county system,” Williams said.
Kelley, in a phone interview Monday after the mayors’ news conference, said neither Lauzon nor Hollar have ever expressed to him concern or criticism of his performance.
“When appropriate, we employ alternative justice programs nearly every day,” Kelley said.
Kelley has been a Washington County prosecutor since 1987 and state’s attorney since 2007, he said. A good state’s attorney makes decisions based on day after day in the court, he said. He sees his job as seeking “justice tempered by mercy,” public safety and fairness.
“It’s easy to criticize but I’ve been doing this work for a long time. And I was supervised by other prosecutors for 20 years,” he said.
Williams said he has 15 years of experience practicing law, primarily civil litigation as well as some criminal defense but not in Washington County recently because he did not want to create a conflict of interest.
Williams is a Vermont native who graduated from Marlboro College, served eight years in the Navy and earned his law degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he practiced law before returning to Vermont, according to a news release from his campaign.
Williams said he has spoken with third-party service providers in Washington County who said they have open slots and could serve more offenders, but Kelley’s office does not refer them.
The mayors cited T.J. Donovan, Chittenden County state’s attorney, and Robert Sand, a former Windsor County state’s attorney, as role models of law enforcement officials who embrace and advocate for creative, alternative justice and said they believe Williams will follow in their footsteps.
The mayors and Williams on Monday underscored how important the state’s attorney is to residents of each county, although their elections rarely garner attention.
Williams’ campaign has raised $15,250 and he said he plans to spend all of it campaigning for the Nov. 4 election. Kelley has not filed a campaign finance report, according to data on the secretary of state’s website.
It’s hard to convince voters to pay attention to state’s attorney elections, but the office has enormous impact on citizens, Williams and the Twin City mayors said.
The state’s attorney is the county’s top prosecutor and decides whom to charge with crimes, how to prosecute them and how to deal with victims.
In Vermont, state’s attorneys are virtually autonomous and as a result, each county takes a different approach to enforcing the law.
