OXFORD COUNTY, Maine — Oxford County Sheriff Chris Wainwright responded Monday after a roughly three-month-long complaint and investigation process of his conduct in office.
Wainwright has been Oxford County Sheriff since 2022. In February 2024, county commissioners wrote a formal complaint to Gov. Janet Mills, accusing him of ordering his deputies to be lenient when writing a traffic citation for one of Wainwright's personal acquaintances. Wainwright said the woman's sister was battling cancer. The commissioners also accused him of selling guns from an evidence room without permission or documentation. Wainwright was also accused of appointing people who were not sworn law enforcement officers to act as School Resource Officers.
On May 13, Mills followed the recommendations of Maine Supreme Court Justice Donald Alexander, and decided not to remove the sheriff, writing in part:
"My decision here should not be viewed as a vindication of Sheriff Wainwright. The hearing record shows that he has made mistakes and acted intemperately on occasion [...] I believe the evidence presented Falls short of satisfying what must be a high standard for the governor's removal from office of a popularly, elected sheriff. In my view, the voters of Oxford County should be the ultimate judge of the sheriff on these matters, and if he puts his name before them for reelection in the future."
On May 20, Wainwright responded in a statement, saying he would not answer further questions about the decision nor about his decision on whether to run for reelection. He wrote that his focus is on his staff and rebuilding a working relationship with the county commissioners.
Below is Wainwright's full written statement:
"I wish to take this opportunity to first thank my family and friends for their love and unwavering support throughout this process. I also want to publicly recognize and praise the men and women of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office that continued to faithfully carry out their duties, without distraction, during the entirety of this process.
To Justice Alexander, Governor Mills, and Governor Mills’ staff, I am eternally grateful for your patience, attention, and wisdom in this extraordinary matter. And I also wish to acknowledge the esteemed members of the media for honoring the dignity of this process and my request to be heard by the Governor, without engaging in a public tit for tat, pending final resolution.
As was my hope, the process here afforded a full and fair opportunity to present the facts - all the facts - to an impartial and revered jurist, of unquestioned integrity and reputation. After receiving all the facts, Justice Alexander applied the law to the operative facts. Justice Alexander’s objective findings, conclusions of law, and analysis merit review and deference.
Accordingly, I humbly decline the many pending requests that I have received to expound on either Justice Alexander’s learned analysis or Governor Mills’ final decision. I understand that members of the media have many unsatisfied curiosities; however, the objective answers to your questions are discoverable in the full volume of materials presented to and relied upon by Justice Alexander and Governor Mills.
Looking forward, I remain committed to my duties and obligations as the Sheriff, for Oxford County. While I also appreciate the questions about my political plans, for 2026, my priorities for the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office are in the here and now. Before I turn over the stewardship of this honorable office, by choice or by ballot, I look forward to working with the new board of county commissioners to ‘work in good faith to rebuild a productive relationship.’
In fact, the challenges that the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, that we all agree exist and were laid bare by this process, cannot wait for the next election cycle for address. Accordingly, as a gesture of my good faith and in recognition of the common ground that readily exists between myself and even my most ardent critics, I invite a healthy and robust public conversation and exchange of ideas on how to efficiently improve Oxford County’s record keeping and evidentiary storage facilities without delay."