OXFORD COUNTY, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills' decision whether to remove Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright from office was released Monday.
In a formal letter from Mills to the sheriff and Oxford County commissioners, Mills said she supports the advisory decision's recommendation against the removal of the sheriff from office.
The governor, in accordance with the Maine Constitution, is the only person who can remove an acting sheriff from their position.
Mills reinforced that she did not want the decision to be seen as a "vindication."
"The hearing record shows that he has made mistakes and acted intemperately on occasion," she wrote in the letter.
In February, the Oxford County Board of Commissioners sent the governor a formal complaint against Wainwright, claiming his tenure has been "tumultuous."
In a scathing 10-page complaint, commissioners described him as "unworthy" and said there was no room for a sheriff who holds himself “above the policies that he is charged with administering, above the ethical responsibilities that he swore an oath to uphold, and the laws that he is charged with enforcing."
The complaint focused in on three areas of concern:
- Request for leniency on a pending charge
- Disposition of firearms
- Certification status of two school resource officers
"The sheriff’s willful and knowing violation of county policy and state law while under active investigation for the same behavior is a significant and meaningful indication that the sheriff has no intention of following the law or county policy going forward,” commissioners wrote.
Oxford County attorney Amy Dieterich told NEWS CENTER Maine in February that the governor's office has been asked before to remove a sitting sheriff but said it is "relatively uncommon."
"The commissioners made this decision only after exhausting every other option with the sheriff and feel like they were left with no choice, other than to pursue this route," she explained at the time.
On Feb. 9, two days after the formal complaint was sent by the commission, Mills ordered an evidentiary hearing to present the facts and allegations against Wainwright. That hearing was held several weeks later, on April 22 and 24, and featured evidence pertaining to the complaints as well as testimony from several commissioners and Wainwright himself.
The advisory committee issued a report May 3, detailing the allegations and subsequent investigation and recommended against the removal of the sheriff from office.
In her letter Monday, Mills explained her reasoning to adopt the advisory decision and said the decision to remove and install a replacement for a county sheriff should only be done under "extraordinary circumstances."
Mills explained that she would consider the removal of a sheriff from office if an investigation showed strong evidence of the following:
- Professional dishonesty or corruption
- Pattern of incompetence or dereliction of duty that makes clear the sheriff is incapable of or unwilling to fulfill the responsibilities of office
"My role here is a narrow one: to consider the facts of the complaint, as established during the proceedings, and to conclude whether those facts justify the removal of a popularly elected official, as laid out by the Maine Constitution," Mills wrote.
Mills said in the letter that the only time a sheriff has been removed by a governor from their post in Maine's history was in 1926 over a complaint that Kennebec County Sheriff Henry Cummings failed to uphold Prohibition laws.
"In my view, the voters of Oxford County should be the ultimate judge on the sheriff on these matters when and if he puts his name before them for reelection in the future," Mills concluded.
The Oxford County Board of Commissioners issued the following statement Monday afternoon following the governor's announcement, saying they would respect the final decision despite disagreeing with the result:
"Although we disagree with the ultimate result, we respect Governor Mills' decision, and wish to thank the Governor as well as the Hon. Donald Alexander for their consideration of the serious concerns that we were compelled to bring to the Governor's attention. Our priorities will continue to be promoting effective governance of Oxford County, supporting County staff, especially those who stepped forward in the face of significant pressure, and ensuring that County business is done in an evenhanded, professional manner. While we will continue to perform our legal duty to ensure that all County officials effectively and faithfully perform their responsibilities, we will work in good faith to rebuild a productive relationship between our office and Sheriff Wainwright moving forward."
Jon Berry, an attorney who represented Wainwright during the hearing, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday that he broke the news to the sheriff, whose first reaction was relief. Berry said he and his client was pleased with the advisory decision and Mills' adoption of that decision. Berry added that they also agreed with Mills that the claims presented in the original complaint were matters of disagreement for voters to decide.
Wainwright, a Republican, was narrowly elected in November 2022 to serve a second four-year term as Oxford County sheriff. According to a report published by the Lewiston Sun Journal the day the results were confirmed, Wainwright has worked for the sheriff's office since he was just 19 years old. If Wainwright were to serve out the remainder of his term, the next election for Oxford County sheriff would be in November 2026.
Read original complaint to Mills, in full:
Read the advisory decision, in full:
Read Mills' decision, in full:
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