Updated 3:42 p.m.
The state Environmental Court has rescinded its arrest warrant for Daniel Banyai after the town of Pawlet said it had brought his Slate Ridge property into compliance with court orders related to zoning violations.
As of Friday afternoon, Banyai was still detained at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland.
Banyai has been held there on the warrant and a separate assault charge since March, when he was arrested by Pawlet Second Constable Tom Covino following a traffic stop. Police accused him of assaulting Covino during the arrest, leading to a felony aggravated assault charge for which he was held on $15,000 cash or surety bond.
According to court documents filed this week by Merrill Bent, Pawlet’s attorney, the town will file an affidavit outlining the costs of bringing Banyai’s property, called Slate Ridge, into compliance and will also request “compensatory damages.”
A deconstructed school building remains on Banyai’s property, Bent wrote, but “Banyai’s agents” have agreed to remove the materials within 60 days.
Around 1 p.m. Friday, Banyai appeared in Rutland Superior criminal court via video link to respond to an extradition request from the state of New York, where a court has issued a warrant for his arrest. In that case, Banyai is charged with violating a condition of his probation, which stemmed from a 2023 conviction for criminal contempt — disobeying a court order.
Banyai’s attorney, public defender Chris Davis, said Banyai won’t voluntarily allow for his transfer to New York. Because of this, New York would have to seek what is known as a governor’s warrant to extradite Banyai. Meanwhile, Banyai can be released from jail on the charge of being a fugitive from New York if he pays a $15,000 cash or surety bond
Slate Ridge, the former paramilitary-style training facility, terrified its neighbors and garnered media attention nationwide. The warrant rescinded this week was issued last year by the state Environmental Court, which found Banyai in contempt amid his years-long legal saga with the town of Pawlet over zoning violations on the property.
Banyai bought his property in West Pawlet in 2013 and opened Slate Ridge in 2017.
Alleging that the activities and structures on his property violated town bylaws, Pawlet issued Banyai a notice of violation in 2019.
In March 2021, Thomas Durkin, the environmental court judge, issued an order that required Banyai to close Slate Ridge and remove unpermitted structures on his property, accelerating a legal battle that continues in the present day.
By February 2023, with Slate Ridge still out of compliance, a judge threatened Banyai with jail time, eventually issuing an arrest warrant in July. Meanwhile, lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott approved a law banning paramilitary training camps, in part inspired by the Slate Ridge debacle.
Despite the arrest warrant, Banyai remained free and the order expired in September 2023, only for it to be renewed indefinitely in December after an inspection of Slate Ridge determined the property remained out of compliance with court orders.
Ignoring an order to turn himself in to authorities, Banyai evaded Vermont State Police and the Rutland County Sheriff’s Office for months, with both agencies reporting repeated checks on the fugitive’s Pawlet property. Perhaps, authorities said, he’d left the state.
Three months after the warrant was reissued, the Pawlet constable arrested Banyai mere miles from Slate Ridge.
Banyai is scheduled to return to court on his aggravated assault charge on June 3. Prior to that, he has a hearing on the governor’s warrant set for May 10.
Tiffany Tan contributed to this report.
