Bram Kranichfeld, an ordained Episcopal priest who previously worked for years as a prosecutor in Vermont, will serve as interim Franklin County state’s attorney now that John Lavoie has resigned from the office, Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday.
The appointment is effective immediately, Scott’s office said in a press release. It comes roughly two weeks after Lavoie said he would step down amid an impeachment inquiry into allegations that he repeatedly harassed and discriminated against his employees.
“This is an office that has experienced harm and trauma. And I see my mission as, primarily, one of starting the healing process,” Kranichfeld said in an interview. “I also see it as restoring public trust in the office, and restoring confidence in the community.”
Kranichfeld, a Democrat, currently serves as priest-in-charge of both All Saints Episcopal Church in South Burlington and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Vergennes. His work in the clergy is fairly recent, though, and he is perhaps best known for his work in the prosecutorial and political realms.
From 2018 to 2019, Kranichfeld served as chief of the criminal division at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. Before that, from 2005 to 2017, he worked as a deputy in the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office. And in 2013-14, Kranichfeld served as executive director of the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.
He has also served on the Burlington City Council and ran, unsuccessfully, to be that city’s mayor.
In an interview, Kranichfeld noted that his first job in Vermont, after working in New York City, was as a judicial clerkship in St. Albans. Working alongside the Franklin County State’s Attorney’s Office in the mid-2000s “helped to inspire me to want to be a prosecutor in Vermont,” he said, adding the office was “near and dear to my heart.”
John Campbell, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, said in the Monday press release the department was “extremely pleased” that Scott had chosen Kranichfeld for the post.
According to Kranichfeld, Campbell called him on Aug. 25 to ask if he wanted his name thrown into the hat for the Franklin County job. He said the call came as a total surprise.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I prayed very deeply on it, and spoke to my wife, and I spoke to a mentor in the clergy,” he recalled, which led him to agree to be considered.
Kranichfeld said that stepping down as priest-in-charge for two parishes is “like leaving my family,” though he has no plans right now to leave the Episcopal Diocese. At the same time, he said, taking the state’s attorney’s post — especially after hearing the allegations against Lavoie — “feels like a call to service that I have to answer.”
Lavoie submitted his resignation to the governor on Aug. 22. By the end of that week, on Aug. 25, the Vermont House committee tasked with determining whether to impeach Lavoie announced it was dropping its investigation into the prosecutor’s conduct.
In previous comments to reporters, Lavoie said he had individually apologized to people he offended, including two attorneys outside of his office. He maintained that numerous incidents of his alleged inappropriate behavior — which included making derogatory comments targeting almost every protected class — did not warrant his resignation.
Kranichfeld will serve as interim state’s attorney until Scott appoints a permanent successor to fill out the remainder of Lavoie’s four-year term, which started this year. Kranichfeld said he doesn’t yet know when the governor will make a permanent appointment, though he said he’ll likely put himself up for consideration for the longer-term post.
One of his main goals for the office, he said, is “mending relationships with all the partners in the community,” including local police departments, courts, defense attorneys and community leaders, though he did not elaborate on any specific plans.
“Bram’s personal and professional experience will have a healing effect and bring closure to the recent unfortunate events,” Campbell said in the press release. “I believe the people of Franklin County will be well-served by this appointment.”
