Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Monday took the unusual step of firing a sheriff who was accused of misconduct, including transferring guns from an evidence storage facility to a gun dealer without providing proper documentation. refused.
Oxford County Sheriff Christopher Wainwright also said he failed to ensure school resource officers were properly qualified and told his deputies to be lenient with people stopped for traffic violations. He was accused of encouraging.
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Mills said he concluded that the evidence did not constitute the high bar of “special circumstances” needed to remove a sheriff for the first time since 1926.
Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills speaks to reporters at Lewiston City Hall on Thursday, October 26, 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
“My decision here should not be seen as a vindication of Sheriff Wainwright,” she wrote. “Hearing records show that he occasionally made mistakes and acted rashly.”
Oxford County commissioners asked Mills to fire Wainwright in February. Under the Maine Constitution, only the governor can remove an elected sheriff.
In his decision, Mills concluded that the school resource officer’s paperwork issues traced back to the previous sheriff and that there was no evidence that Wainwright personally benefited from the gun deal.
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She also concluded that his underlying request to the congressman to provide relief for an acquaintance whose sister is suffering from cancer was neither illegal nor unethical. She said her reaction to a deputy questioning the sheriff’s intervention, which included cursing and blaming the deputy, was wrong but did not constitute a pattern of behavior.
