Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak will go before the Vermont Criminal Justice Council early next month as he faces allegations of unprofessional conduct.
The council alleges in a hearing notice that Bohnyak “knowingly employed an individual in a position or for duties for which the individual lacks proper certification.” A “Level II certified Deputy Sheriff” was allowed to investigate at least 13 cases, including incidents involving sexual assault and sexual assault against a child, for which the deputy was not certified, according to the notice. Based on the case numbers, the incidents appear to have occurred in 2019 and 2020.
Bohnyak, the president of the National Sheriffs’ Association who has served as Orange County sheriff for nearly 16 years, lost his reelection bid this month by 100 votes to part-time Orange County sheriff’s deputy George Contois. He’s since called for a recount.
Bohnyak did not respond to an email and voicemail seeking comment.
If he’s found guilty, the council could impose one of a series of sanctions on Bohnyak, including a written warning, a suspension, or a temporary or permanent revocation of his law enforcement certification.
The Vermont Criminal Justice Council this year stripped law enforcement certifications from two officers, including a Williston officer in September and a former Springfield cop last week.
Dickson Corbett, who has served as Orange County state’s attorney since he was appointed by Gov. Phil Scott in April 2021, said he had not dealt with the allegations when he was a deputy state’s attorney.
“I do not know the sequencing of events nor exactly what arrangements were made,” Corbett wrote in an email. “I know that a solution was found that resulted in no negative case impacts.”
Corbett said former Orange County state’s attorney Will Porter “was the one who dealt with the issue.”
Reached for comment, Porter recalled an instance in which he flagged to the sheriff’s office a potential issue with a deputy’s certification level. He said the sheriff’s department had misinterpreted the powers granted to a particular deputy’s certification level, and once the issue was flagged, it was resolved “immediately.”
However, he said he wasn’t familiar with the criminal justice council’s hearing and couldn’t confirm the issue he recalled was the one before the council.