By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent
Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer said Tuesday he has begun securing official appointments for several of his deputies after a Vermont Standard investigation determined that their commissions were never filed with the county clerk so they could begin work.
In a breaking story, the Vermont Standard reported online on Monday that at least seven law enforcement employees of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, including one that police say was involved in a fatal on-duty shooting in Springfield last month, were never officially commissioned to work as deputy sheriffs.
Palmer, who became the county sheriff on Feb. 1, 2023, was required to appoint deputies, to have the officers swear an oath of office and to have the appointment document notarized and filed with the county clerk before any work could be undertaken, according to Vermont law. The appointment is embossed with the county seal certifying the officer.
“Clearly, some things did not get done,” Palmer told the Standard on Tuesday afternoon, one day after the initial news report. “It’s on me, I dropped the ball.”
He estimated that the missing appointments would be filled out and filed within a few days.
Since the news story was posted Monday, the Vermont Standard received tips about other department employees that worked for Palmer and apparently never had an official appointment filed with the county clerk.
Since his election, Palmer has been hustling to build the sheriff’s department and to add more community patrols and security contracts in Windsor County and nearby counties.
It appears he was not attentive to the statutory appointment requirements of the office.
Windsor County Clerk Pepper Tepperman, in response to a Vermont Public Records request, showed Palmer had 23 deputies with commissions on file with the county.
The Vermont Standard identified at least seven other deputies that have been working for Palmer that had no commissions on file with the county clerk. Most of the seven are listed on the department’s website.
Deputy Sheriff Bryan Jalava, who was involved in the fatal on-duty shooting in Springfield, is among those seven employees working as paid deputies for Palmer, but never had their appointments formally filed with the Windsor County Clerk as required by state statute, according to a Vermont Public Records request.
Also, former Windsor County Capt. Paul Samataro, who served as the chief deputy for Palmer for 18 months until a falling out on July 23, never had his appointment, known as a commission, filed with the county, records show.
The Vermont Standard filed a public records request with the county clerk for all deputy sheriff commissions. It came after Palmer rejected a separate public records request last week for documents involving the forced departures of Samataro and longtime Administrative Lt. Thomas Battista, both on July 23.
After an appeal by the Standard, Palmer released the public records about Samataro and Battista this week. (See related news story.)
Palmer, when first confronted by the Vermont Standard Monday about the missing commissions, admitted he needed to get “up to speed” and get them filed.
Vermont law states: “A deputy shall not perform an official act until his or her deputation and oath are filed for record in the office of the county clerk.”
Also, the final line of all the appointment documents the sheriff issues makes clear that the record must be filed with the county clerk before a deputy can go to work.
“This commission must be recorded in the Windsor County Clerk’s Office before the Deputy Sheriff is authorized to act,” the form notes. There is a $1 filing fee the sheriff must pay.
The county clerk’s office is across the hall from the sheriff’s office in Woodstock.
Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough said Tuesday he first learned about the deputies lacking recorded commissions at the county office Monday night while reading the Vermont Standard online story.
“I am aware, and we will review the implications internally,” Goodenough said when asked about possible legal issues.
Goodenough would not speculate on the impact on any pending or closed cases. He said he tries to avoid commenting on active cases.
It is still unclear what, if any, legal liability Windsor County residents or the Sheriff’s Department could face from the Aug. 21 fatal shooting that involved both the non-commissioned Jalava and a Springfield Police officer.
Also, it is unknown what impact the non-recorded appointments would have on all the criminal and motor vehicle arrests made by those various deputy sheriffs since Sheriff Palmer took over 2.5 years ago.
The official appointment of a Vermont deputy sheriff is normally signed off by the county sheriff, the deputy and a notary public. The commission is eventually presented to the county clerk for the required legal recording in the county offices.
Tepperman, who has served as county clerk for 13 years, told the Vermont Standard this week that there were commissions on file for 23 current deputies in Windsor County. Three others had expired, she said.
Several other County Sheriffs in Vermont reached by the Standard said they would never allow any deputy sheriffs in their departments to go on patrol or conduct police business until their appointments were filed with their respective counties.
Orleans County Sheriff Jennifer Harlow, president of the state sheriffs association, was typical of the interviews. Harlow said as soon as she was sworn in for a new term on Feb. 1, 2023, she turned around and administered the oath to her deputies. The deputies signed them, and the commissions were notarized, she said. Harlow then had them presented to the Orleans County Clerk to make copies and record as an official document of the county.
Pepperman said she used the same process for former longtime Windsor County Sheriff D. Michael Chamberlain and now for Sheriff Palmer. She makes a copy of the commission and files it in the Windsor County records. Pepperman said she gives the original copy back to the county sheriff for his office records.
Chris Brickell, executive director of the Vermont Police Academy, said it is essential for all the proper paperwork to be filed before police hit the streets. Brickell, who was police chief in Brandon for 13 years, said he had the officers sworn in by the Brandon Town Clerk, who would then file the oaths of office in the book containing municipal records.
Besides Jalava and Samataro, Windsor County had no known records for Deputy Sheriffs Craig Watrous, Michael Keefe, Dillon Mock, Michael Fisher and Derek Beagle, who are all listed on the department website.
Two of those five deputies (Watrous and Keefe) have been patrolling full-time in Weathersfield, which disbanded its town police department and signed a $390,000 annual contract with the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department. The move came after Weathersfield Police Chief William Daniels was hired May 1 to replace Windsor Police Chief Jennifer Frank when she resigned.
Mock, a firefighter/paramedic for the town of Hartford, actually had a commission, but it was one of three that had expired, Pepperman reported.
Palmer, who took office Feb. 1, 2023, was required to issue commissions to all employees he planned to use as deputies for law enforcement purposes, including patrols, court security and prisoner transports.
While the public records response from Tepperman showed 23 deputies had their commissions recorded with the county clerk’s office in February 2023, the Vermont Standard has learned at least five of the 23 deputies with active commissions are no longer with the department.
The Vermont Standard also received a report last week that Jalava was back in uniform and was seen gassing up a cruiser with sheriff’s license plates.
Palmer, in a response to the newspaper on Friday evening, confirmed Jalava was off paid leave and had returned to work. He classified it as “a limited capacity.”
The sheriff also reported on Monday that Jalava did work in uniform with a gun over the weekend at the World’s Fair in Tunbridge with other deputies. Palmer said Jalava also is serving civil court paperwork for the department.
Jalava also has been assigned a new cruiser after his marked unit was damaged during the Springfield shooting case, Palmer said. Sheriff Palmer said his department vehicle also sustained an estimated $8,000 in front end damage during the Springfield incident.
The sheriff said there was nothing saying Jalava could not return to work from his paid leave while the fatal shooting case remains under investigation.
Jalava, and a Springfield Police Officer, Vincent T. Franchi, both fired shots that are believed to have hit and killed James Crary, 36, of Newport, N.H. on the night of Aug. 21, according to Vermont State Police.
Crary was not the wanted person that police were seeking that night at the 78 Valley Street residence. Valley Street is a known trouble area in recent years and has seen multiple federal, state and local drug raids.
Crary reportedly accelerated in his car toward the police before the shooting.
Vermont State Police made no mention in any of its news releases that two cruisers owned by the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department were damaged during the incident.
Jalvava and Franchi were both placed on paid administrative leave by their respective law enforcement departments after the fatal shooting. The incident was captured on police video and possibly citizen recordings.
The Vermont State Police said Monday it is still investigating the fatal shooting. Both the Vermont Attorney General and Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan have been asked to review the case when the investigation is complete.
Goodenough disqualified himself from the shooting case.
The Vermont Standard reported last month that Palmer had suddenly severed ties with Samataro and Battista.
Pepperman said she has received no notifications from Palmer revoking any commissions, even after she read in the Vermont Standard about the departures of Samataro, a 38-year police veteran and Battista, a 23-year police veteran.
Vermont law says “A sheriff may dismiss a deputy and revoke his or her deputation. Such revocation shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk and shall take effect from the day of such record.”
Other appointed Windsor County deputy sheriffs that have departed since receiving their commissions in February 2023 are Erick Robinson, Marc Preston and Mark Belisle. No reason is known for any of them.