State sheriffs cite 1976 court ruling as a limit on county-funded policing; recommend pilots

Montpelier — Tim Lidders of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee that legal precedent and the current county revenue model limit how counties can fund law enforcement.

Lidders cited a 1976 state Supreme Court decision that described Vermont counties as units of limited, special function and said those limits mean county funds may not be used in the same way counties in other states use them for policing. He told the committee the decision is available on the committee website and recommended the group study more narrowly scoped tests rather than broad, immediate statutory change.

“We’re set up differently,” Lidders said, noting the Lamoille decision and the patchwork of contracts many sheriffs rely on to provide municipal coverage. He described how if a single town withdraws from a contract it can jeopardize an officer’s position and that recruiting replacements takes roughly a year, risking coverage gaps in rural areas.

Lidders said existing intermunicipal arrangements such as Special Investigation Units receive discretionary grants from his department and that those boards often include multiple law-enforcement and social‑service partners; he suggested an umbrella governance model could simplify funding and administration but that the statute around SIUs and county roles will need cleanup in later sessions.

Why it matters: Law-enforcement coverage, recruitment and statutory limits on county funds were central to the testimony. Committee members were urged to consider pilot designs such as S.255 in Windham County to evaluate whether governance changes can improve coverage without contravening the cited court limits.

What’s next: The committee did not take action on S.255 during the hearing; members directed staff to review the cited case law and consider pilot structures.