A state oversight panel voted Wednesday to temporarily suspend Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer’s law enforcement certification while a criminal case against him is pending.
Shortly afterward, Gov. Phil Scott told reporters at his weekly press conference that Palmer should resign.
“From what I’ve seen and read, he’s lost trust of the folks in Windsor County and he should step down,” the Republican governor said when asked about the case.
Palmer, 39, was arrested last week on charges that he paid women to watch him masturbate and then stalked them when they stopped seeing him, according to a police affidavit.
He pleaded not guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct, soliciting of prostitution, aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon, and obstruction of justice. A judge released Palmer on conditions, including that he not have firearms or contact the victims.
In response, the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, a statewide body that regulates law enforcement, met Wednesday and unanimously voted to suspend Palmer’s law enforcement certification.
“These allegations, if true, constitute a danger to public health, safety or welfare that imperatively requires emergency action,” the council stated in its written decision. It also noted that “as the elected sheriff, there is no other mechanism available that can restrain or limit the law enforcement actions of Ryan Palmer.”
Palmer did not respond to a request for comment.
While Gov. Scott has called for Palmer’s resignation, Windsor County lawmakers have so far taken a different tack.
On Tuesday, all the state representatives and both state senators for the county sent the sheriff a letter calling on him to step back from his duties, but stopping short of calling for his resignation.
Palmer, who was elected to his first four-year term in 2022, told reporters last week that he would step back from day-to-day operations at the sheriff’s department, but that he wasn’t planning to step down.
Vermont law doesn’t require sheriffs to be certified law enforcement officers, though without credentials a sheriff can’t perform standard police work, like going on patrols or investigating crimes.
One sheriff in Vermont, John Grismore in Franklin County, has worked for years without law enforcement credentials.
The council permanently revoked Grismore’s certification in 2023 after determining that he used excessive force when he kicked a handcuffed and shackled man. But Grismore refused to step down. He also faced criminal charges for his actions, but the Grand Isle County state’s attorney dropped the case after two mistrials.
Sheriffs can only be removed from office through impeachment, a rarely used legislative process. Legislative leaders have not said if they’ll attempt to impeach Palmer.
The Vermont Criminal Justice Council will hold additional hearings on Palmer’s credentials at a later time.
