Vermont lawmakers have expanded a proposed constitutional amendment to set qualifications and removal procedures not just for sheriffs but also for the other elected county offices of state’s attorney, probate judge and assistant judge.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations last Thursday went over the second version of the proposed amendment, Proposal 1, which was prompted by scandals at several sheriffs’ departments.
Committee members spent almost half of the hearing on Proposal 1 discussing whether to include specific qualifications for the county positions. Constitutional provisions are generally broad, with details left to be filled in by state law.
John Campbell, director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, broached the topic when he urged the committee to set specific rules that would safeguard current lawmakers’ intent to promote oversight and accountability for elected county offices.
He said this approach would also prevent the qualifications from being used by future lawmakers — such as those with ultraconservative ideologies — to potentially sideline certain people from those county positions.
“It facially would not be biased, but certainly you could end up getting there if you were creative enough,” Campbell said. He gave as examples a possible law allowing only Vermont-born people to hold the office of state’s attorney, or one that required a 20-year residency.
Any Vermont constitutional amendment must first be approved by the Senate and House in two successive biennia, meaning a general election is held in between, before the proposed amendment goes before voters.
Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, said she agreed with Campbell, adding that laying down specific qualifications would help the proposed amendment earn voters’ support.
“I think they’re much more likely to vote for something they understand better,” said Clarkson, the Senate majority leader.
Campbell said people opposed to Proposal 1 could try to defeat it at the polls by running a campaign that could instill worries over what qualifications the Legislature could enact, if they’re not specified in the amendment.
Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, made the case for broader language. She said this would allow the state constitution to more effectively adapt to social changes, including qualifications better suited, for example, to sheriffs 20 years down the road.
“My sort of understanding and appreciation of the Constitution is that it shouldn’t be amended often,” she said. “It should, in many instances, stand the test of time, though it doesn’t always.”
Lawmakers are considering qualifications that include a Level III law enforcement certification for sheriffs, a law license for state’s attorneys, as well as residency for both positions in the counties they serve. Those do not currently exist.
The committee held off on including high bailiffs in Proposal 1 after discussing whether the relatively obscure position should be removed entirely from the state constitution.
The committee chair, Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, said it’s important to put in place safeguards that would protect the spirit of the proposed amendment but that it should also withstand the passage of time.
“We can’t be so specific that it ties our hands, or it ties our future hands,” she said.
Hardy said she expects Proposal 1 to move through the state Senate this year, after which it would be handed off to the House. Only the Senate has the power to propose constitutional amendments in the state and make revisions to any proposals introduced.
During last November’s midterm elections, Vermonters ratified two constitutional amendments. One explicitly prohibits slavery and indentured servitude in the state and another enshrines a person’s reproductive rights, including to abortion and contraception.
Proposal 1 is not the only measure lawmakers are considering to reform the county sheriff system.
Earlier this month, the Senate government operations committee signed off on S.17, which would end the practice of allowing elected sheriffs to personally pocket a 5% fee from their departments’ contracts with public and private entities. The bill would also improve auditing of departments, require sheriffs to record their work schedules and establish an oversight task force.
That bill is scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor Tuesday.