In a move that is sure to spark debate about criminal justice in Vermont’s most populous region, Williston selectboard vice-chair and lawyer Ted Kenney is contesting incumbent Sarah George for the Democratic nomination for Chittenden County state’s attorney.
A website for Kenney’s campaign certified the announcement. VTDigger reported last month that he was exploring a run.
Kenney, who left his post as a top staffer for state Attorney General TJ Donovan last month, faces a polarizing opponent in George, Donovan’s successor as Chittenden County prosecutor.
George has attracted praise nationwide for using her position as a vehicle to set progressive policies aimed at reforming the criminal justice system. She has done away with some conventional tools used by prosecutors, such as asking for defendants to be held before trial unless they post a cash bail, calling them inequitable.
But George’s leveraging of “prosecutorial discretion” has also garnered criticism from elected officials within the state, including Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who appointed her as state’s attorney to replace Donovan in 2017. Detractors contend her reform-minded approach has spared culpable people from punishment.
If elected, Kenney said on his campaign website, he would request “reasonable court-ordered conditions of release for those awaiting trial.”
“We do not have to choose between criminal justice reform and safe streets. In fact, we cannot have one without the other,” the website states.
Kenney did not respond to a request for comment from VTDigger on Friday.
George’s campaign website lists “public safety” as the top issue in her campaign.
“By prioritizing the prosecution of violent crime, and promoting alternatives to prosecution on lower level offenses,” the website states, “Sarah and her team can address harm to victims, hold offenders accountable, and lower recidivism rates and incarceration rates.”
As they seek the Democratic party nomination, both candidates are likely to spar over how they would respond to a reported rise in retail theft around Chittenden County.
Store owners have expressed frustration with George for not taking up misdemeanor shoplifting cases in court. By diverting them to restorative justice programs, they say, she does not deter people who repeatedly steal items of less than $1,000 — the level at which retail theft becomes a felony.
In laying out his platform, Kenney seized on those complaints.
“(Restorative justice programs) simply are not suitable for every single instance of retail theft and burglary,” Kenney said on his website. “Repeat offenders should face the criminal justice system.”
Kenney has not yet filed a campaign finance disclosure with the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office. According to George’s most recent disclosure, filed in March, she had raised about $750 in the first three months of 2022, with $14,450 left over from her previous campaign in 2018.
In a statement to VTDigger, George welcomed Kenney’s entry into the race.
“This seat does not belong to me,” George said. “I look forward to a campaign that focuses on facts over fear, and one that highlights the important issues facing our community.”