Oxford County commissioners will ask the governor to remove their elected sheriff from office, in a rare move that comes in response to the sheriff acting outside of his authority, according to the commissioners’ draft meeting minutes.
Sheriff Christopher Wainwright improperly disposed of guns from evidence, allowed uncertified cops to work as school resource officers and berated a deputy who reported the sheriff for asking him to go easy on a woman he cited for a traffic infraction.
“Sheriff Christopher Wainwright has failed to faithfully and efficiently perform the duties of his Office and improperly exercised and acted outside of his legal authority,” read the minutes from the commissioners’ Jan. 16 meeting. The Oxford County administrator’s office released them Wednesday.
The decision comes after months of reporting by the Bangor Daily News on the sheriff. Most recently a BDN examination found that Wainwright sold dozens of guns from evidence in 2021 as part of deals that he apparently did not record on paper and did not tell the county’s own financial officers about.
behind the accusations
For many of the guns, the sheriff’s office didn’t even have a record of their origins, raising questions about whether the sheriff had the authority to sell them at all given legal restrictions on disposing of evidence. The sheriff traded a total of 52 guns and gun parts from evidence to J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop in Auburn; what he received in return was not clear.
Though they do not specify when, the minutes state that the commissioners will send a complaint to Gov. Janet Mills detailing Wainwright’s actions and asking that he be removed from office.
Abby Shanor, the interim county administrator, said the commissioners are working with their attorney to put together the complaint, and there is no expected time when they will vote to send it to the governor.
The commissioners will meet Thursday, but they are not expected to discuss the complaint further then, she said.
“I don’t expect them to do anything further tomorrow. They made a decision on the 16th, and nothing has changed since that decision,” she said.
A sheriff is elected and cannot be suspended or disciplined by commissioners. Under Maine law, sheriffs can only be removed by the governor.
Wainwright did not directly answer a question about whether he would resign. In a statement he said he would continue to carry out his duties and obligations as sheriff “in a dignified and professional manner.”
“My first priority is and will continue to be the preservation of the integrity of the Office of Sheriff — restoration of the dignity of that Office, in Oxford County — and the exclusive authority of the Governor in this matter,” he wrote.
behind the accusations
The commissioners previously deliberated in May 2023 whether to ask the governor to remove Wainwright from office, but they decided against it.
Their decision came after Wainwright directed one of his deputies to go easy on an acquaintance the deputy had cited for a traffic violation. The sheriff then got angry when that deputy and a second deputy reported the sheriff’s request up the chain of command, according to a recording of the sheriff shared with the BDN.
“I don’t work for the county commissioners, and I don’t work for the chief deputy. You all work for me. And if I tell you not to write any fucking tickets ever again, you won’t write any tickets ever again. You know what I’m saying? That’s the sheriff. It’s a constitutional office,” he said.
The sheriff later apologized, saying he had been unprofessional and overstated his authority, and that he had violated Maine’s law enforcement code of ethics by asking his deputy to show favor toward someone.
Soon after the commissioners’ deliberation in May, the BDN reported that Oxford County had been approving contracts with Hiram-based School Administrative District 55 and Rumford-based Regional School Unit 10 for school resource officers but not sending certified law enforcement officers — despite giving them guns and badges.
School resource officers are supposed to be law enforcement vested with the power to make arrests, according to Maine law. But the men the sheriff sent into schools had not completed the required exams at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy to become certified.
behind the accusations
Then in August, after nine months of reporting, the BDN wrote about Wainwright selling guns from evidence without getting approval from the county or the original owners of the guns, prompting one outside expert to call for an independent investigation.
The commissioners cited Wainwright’s gun deals, his treatment of deputies and his oversight of school resource officers as the reasons why they want him removed, saying in their minutes that his actions violated the law and county’s policies.
Wainwright was elected Oxford County sheriff in November 2018 and sworn into office in January 2019. He started his law enforcement career at the sheriff’s office as a patrol deputy more than 30 years ago.
This will be the second time in recent years that Oxford County has asked the governor to remove its sheriff. In 2017, the commissioners asked then-Gov. Paul LePage to remove former Sheriff Wayne Gallant from office, but Gallant resigned before LePage made a decision. Evidence revealed Gallant had sent nude and graphic pictures of himself to members of the community and his staff.
