This story was updated at 7:32 p.m.
Corrections Commissioner Mike Touchette has resigned less than two weeks after reports of misconduct and retaliation within the department he led.
Touchette, a 30-year veteran of the department, said the decision to step down as commissioner and return to a non-appointed job in state government was not easy.
“I continue to believe that we have been on the right path in making necessary changes and updates to our system of care for all in corrections,” he wrote in an email to VTDigger Wednesday afternoon. “At this point in time, I feel that I need to find a better balance between my career and personal life.”
Touchette has served as commissioner since last December.
Mike Smith, Agency of Human Services secretary, said Touchette informed him of his decision late Monday afternoon.
Asked why the news wasn’t released earlier this week, Smith replied, “I had other things to do.” The secretary was preparing for the governor’s “Capital for a Day” on Monday and attended the event in Chittenden County on Tuesday.
“I wanted to make sure I was available for press calls,” Smith said of reason for delaying publicly releasing the news. “I wouldn’t have been yesterday.”
Shortly after VTDigger reported on Touchette’s resignation Wednesday morning, Smith sent out an email to AHS staff informing them of the news.
“I’ve been keeping employees completely up to date about what’s happening,” he told VTDigger. “I’ve tried to keep them informed before you find out, but today you found out before they did.”
VTDigger had repeatedly emailed Touchette on Tuesday to discuss several matters and never received any response. He did respond with an email later Wednesday afternoon in response to questions about his resignation.
“I am proud of the many accomplishments that I have either led or been involved in,” he wrote. “I have worked extremely hard, along with many others who share my same vision for the needed changes to our current systems.”
He added, “The work, the vision, the mission shall carry on. Humanize and dignify those who are justice involved. Better citizens and not better prisoners.”
Touchette’s resignation comes as turmoil surrounds the Corrections Department he oversees.
His resignation follows a report earlier this month in Seven Days about the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, the state’s only prison for women.
That article as well as later reporting by the news organization detailed allegations of sexual abuse and harassment as well as drug use by guards at the prison, and that Touchette had been aware of several of the misconduct claims.
Also, on Friday, the top two leaders of the Newport facility were placed on administrative leave after Touchette said a “credible report was made that warrants further assessment.”
Smith, who was appointed AHS secretary in October, has called for an “independent, external investigation” into the department as allegations swirl of misconduct and retaliation among staff and supervisors.
The secretary said he is still working to determine the scope of that investigation, adding that it will be “thorough and look deeply into the department and its operations.”
According to Smith, he expects that investigation to start within the next few weeks and be done within 120 days.
Smith said Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Judy Henkin will step in as acting corrections commissioner.
Smith added that he hoped to announce in the “near future” an interim commissioner to lead the corrections department and oversee it during the process of the independent investigation. He said his preference would be hiring an interim commissioner from outside the department.
He added, “I just think it looks like maybe it’s more independent during this time frame.”
In his email Wednesday to AHS staff, Smith wrote that he is also working on other recommendations to the governor regarding the department, including matters related to “staffing, training, and other items that have quickly come to my attention.”
He added in that email to staff, “That report will be delivered by the end of this week. After reviewing that material with the Governor, I will update you on that information as well.”
Smith, in his later interview with VTDigger, said he did not ask for Touchette to step down. “This was all his decision,” the AHS secretary said.
Asked if Touchette provided a reason for stepping down as corrections commissioner, Smith said, “I think it really took a toll on him, everything that was being said about him on social media, or messages that he was getting.”
Smith added, “He’s a human being and it was taking a toll.”
Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday that he also did not ask Touchette to step down.
“It was Mike’s decision to step aside and ultimately,” the governor said in a statement, “Secretary Mike Smith respected his decision and accepted his resignation.”
Scott called Touchette a “dedicated public servant who brought many great qualities” to the department, while Smith thanked the outgoing corrections commissioner for his “commitment” to his job.
Exactly what position Touchette will be returning to in state government is not yet clear, but Smith said that will likely be decided by the state Department of Human Resources.
“He has the right to return to the position, the pay grade I guess you would call it, that he left when he was classified, and he will be able to return to that position,” Smith said. “Where that is in state government, I don’t know, that’s up to the Department of Human Resources.”
At a forum on the women’s prison last week, Touchette told reporters that he had considered resigning amid the corrections scandal. However, Touchette said at the time he didn’t do anything wrong. He said he ultimately decided at that time against resigning after he decided he was the best person to continue to lead the department.
“This has been a difficult time for me and my family,” Touchette said at that time.
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, said Wednesday afternoon that the news of Touchette’s resignation was not surprising.
“The resignation of one person, even if it’s the commissioner, isn’t enough to make the kind of changes that need to be made in the Department of Corrections,” Howard said. “It’s sad to see someone who was really, I think, trying to do good things, leave, especially in these circumstances, but it was somewhat predictable.”
Howard talked of ongoing staffing shortages and long hours worked by those in corrections as issues that have long needed to be addressed.
Asked what responsibility the union had in responding to the claims of staff misconduct, Howard responded, “First of all, they’re just allegations.”
Then he added, “We have to make sure that our members who have come forward to management are not retaliated against.”
Falko Schilling, the advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, agreed with Howard that the problems at DOC require more than personnel changes.
“This is a major systemic issue and it’s not going to be solved by one person, or even just a couple people, stepping down,” Schilling said.
“There needs to be major systemic changes throughout the department,” he said. “We keep hearing more and more about how the culture created there is impacting the facilities and is having detrimental impacts on the lives of Vermonters.”
Schilling talked of “power dynamics” in the prison facilities that are “extremely troubling.” For example, he said, inmates and other people under the supervision of corrections have almost no avenues to have their complaints heard outside of the same department they have grievances with.
VTDigger first found out that Touchette had stepped down from the commissioner post Wednesday morning during an interview with Matthew Valerio, Vermont’s defender general.
Valerio said he had a scheduled meeting with Touchette set for 9 a.m. but Touchette did not show up.
“When it got to be 9:40 I texted him and said why aren’t you here,” Valerio said. “He called me and told me he resigned.”
