§ 290. County sheriff’s department

(a) A sheriff’s department is established in each county. It shall consist of the elected sheriff in each county and such deputy sheriffs and supporting staff as may be appointed by the sheriff. Full-time employees of the sheriff’s department, paid by the county, shall be county employees for all purposes but shall be eligible to join the State Employees Retirement System, provided the county shall pay the employer’s share. The sheriff’s department shall be entitled to utilize all State services available to a town within the county.

(b) Full-time State deputy sheriffs whose primary responsibility is transportation of prisoners persons with a mental condition or psychiatric disability, or juveniles being transported to court or to a court-ordered facility shall be paid by the State of Vermont. The positions and their funding shall be assigned to the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs. The Executive Director shall have the authority to determine job duties for the position, assignment of positions to county, regular and temporary work locations, assistance to other State agencies and departments, timesheet systems, daily work logs, and to have final approval of personnel matters, including, but not limited to, approval for hiring, paygrade assignment, hiring rate, discipline, and termination. The sheriffs shall have an Executive Committee of not more than five current sheriffs, elected for a two-year term by a vote of the sheriffs held not later than January 15, for a term starting February 1. The Executive Committee shall have a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary-Treasurer, and two members at large. The Executive Committee shall meet at least quarterly to provide input to the Department of State’s Attorneys and sheriffs regarding budget, legislation, personnel and policies, and the assignment of positions, when vacancies arise, for efficient use of resources.

(c) Equity, indebtedness, ownership of equipment, and title to motor vehicles associated with the operation of each sheriff’s department and purchased with department funds shall be held in the name of the department, not in the name of the sheriff. The department is constituted as a legal entity with the power to contract and incur liabilities.

(d)(1) Upon the election of a sheriff-elect who is not the incumbent sheriff, an announcement that the incumbent sheriff will not seek reelection, or an announcement that the incumbent sheriff intends to resign, whichever occurs earliest, all financial disbursements from the accounts of the department, including the transfer of real or personal property, or other assets, of the department, shall be co-signed by the sheriff and at least one assistant judge in that county, and the sheriff shall, within two weeks, provide the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, the Auditor of Accounts, and the assistant judges of that county with a written list of all transfers of departmental assets and financial disbursements to a single source, in aggregate, greater than $10,000.00 anticipated to occur before the sheriff leaves office. Assistant judges shall consult with the Director of Sheriffs’ Operations when considering whether to co-sign any transfers of departmental assets or financial disbursements to a single source, in aggregate, greater than $10,000.00. The assistant judges shall not unreasonably refuse to co-sign any disbursements or transfer of sheriff’s department assets.

(2) A report of all financial disbursements and transfers made pursuant to this subsection shall be forwarded by the assistant judges to the Auditor of Accounts within 15 days following the sheriff leaving office. (Added 1977, No. 218 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1987, No. 262 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1991, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2009, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 149; 2021, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § E.205, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 30, §§ 2, 5d, eff. May 31, 2023.)