Windham County Sheriff's Department


The Windham County Sheriff's Department is a full-service rural county law enforcement agency that serves Windham County, Vermont. It provides contract service law enforcement to towns within Windham County, acting as an equivalent of a town police department. The Sheriff's department is also responsible for prisoner transports within Windham County and serving civil process.
On February 2, 2007, Keith Clark was sworn in as Sheriff at the Windham Superior Court in Newfane, VT. Clark was elected following a scandal with the previous elected sheriff, Sheila Prue, who resigned in disgrace following a guilty plea of a felony count of embezzlement as well as misdemeanor counts of neglect of duty and petit larceny. On July 10, 2019, Governor Phil Scott appointed Mark Anderson as Windham County Sheriff. Anderson fills the vacancy left by his predecessor, Sheriff Keith Clark, who retired June 30, 2019 after 12 years as sheriff.

Services

The Windham County Sheriff's Department fell into controversy most recently when its then Sheriff, Sheila Prue was alleged to be stealing department funds, using department equipment for personal use and for mismanagement of the department. Controversies arose regarding many deputies receiving insufficient training as well. Late 2006, Prue resigned and the reigns of the department were left to Richard Guthrie, a long-time veteran law enforcement officer in the Windham County community.
Sheriffs William Graham and Henry Farnum were Sheriffs prior to Sheriff Prue. Sheriff Graham led the Department in excess of 30 years and Farnum for less than a year prior losing the election to Sheriff Prue. Sheriff Graham built a highly respected agency. A chronological history of the controversy from his reign to present may be found at .

Contract Towns

The following towns maintain a contract with the Windham County Sheriff's Department for patrol services: