Vermont lawmakers are considering expanding a proposed state constitutional amendment to set qualifications not just for sheriffs but also for the other elected county offices of state’s attorney, probate judge and assistant judge.
During a meeting Thursday of the Senate Government Operations Committee, Sen. Robert Norris, R-Franklin, said that he was “not keen” on the proposed amendment, Proposal 1, because the Vermont Constitution is not just a piece of paper to be rewritten at will.
But Norris — himself a former Franklin County sheriff — agrees that the elected law enforcement position requires additional oversight. Multiple sheriffs have been embroiled in scandal recently.
The proposed constitutional amendment as currently written would allow the Legislature to set qualifications for sheriffs. If the proposal passes, state senators have said they’d consider creating another option to remove sheriffs from office — besides the long and arduous process of impeachment, as well as adding certification and residency requirements.
Norris suggested that his committee consider adding qualifications for the other county-level elected offices — state’s attorney, probate judge, assistant judge and high bailiff — to save the Legislature from potentially having to amend the Constitution again in a few years.
“Why don’t we, at least as a committee, consider just a clean sweep here, so to speak, of the constitutionally elected positions?” Norris said in Thursday’s hearing. “Because we could be — hopefully not — revisiting that same thing two or three years down the road.”
Other committee members voiced their support for the idea.
“In the 21st century, all those jobs require qualifications, in my humble opinion,” said Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, the Senate majority leader. “I would be open to considering expanding this to include all those we have yet to set qualifications for.”
Sen. Anne Watson, D/P-Washington, said the suggestion was a way to level the field. “In that way, it would take some pressure specifically off any one of those groups.”
Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, the committee chair and a leading proponent of establishing oversight and accountability for sheriffs, said expanding the scope of Proposal 1 would involve taking more testimony, specifically from individuals or groups that represent the other county offices.
She said the more complex a proposed amendment is, the more public education the state would have to conduct when the issue goes to voters.
Committee members agreed to have Proposal 1 redrafted by legislative counsel to broaden its scope. But they held off on including the high bailiff position after discussing whether the position should be removed entirely from the state constitution.
Any constitutional amendment must first be approved by the Senate and House in two successive biennia, meaning a general election is held in between, before it goes before voters.
If the proposed amendment were to pass the Senate this year, Senate Secretary John Bloomer said, the House could vote on it this year, too, or the following year. Alternatively, the Senate could pass it in 2024, the same year the House votes on it.
“They could even introduce a different proposal next year and still get it all through the process,” he said. Only the Senate has the power to propose constitutional amendments in the state and make revisions to any proposals introduced.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, a leading sponsor of Proposal 1, said that expanding the scope of a constitutional amendment proposal would not necessarily make the legislation harder to pass.
But he added: “If you go too far, it could.”
Sears said he co-sponsored Proposal 1 because he was more immediately concerned about oversight of sheriffs, given those in their ranks who’ve faced multiple controversies recently.
Hardy couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday.
During the November midterm elections, Vermonters ratified two constitutional amendments: one that explicitly prohibits slavery and indentured servitude in the state and another that enshrines a person’s reproductive rights, including to abortion and contraception.