Caledonia Sheriff's Department on the Move?
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- Created on Monday, 11 April 2016 19:55
- Written by Tom Weineck
ST. JOHNSBURY - The Caledonia County Sheriff’s Department may be on the move from its current location in the basement of the courthouse in St. Johnsbury.
The sheriffs’ departments in Vermont are contractually obligated to provide security to their respective county courthouses. If the Caledonia County Sheriff’s Department were to move, it could cause a small delay in response times if there was an issue at the courthouse.
“It is not a major factor if something were to arise or if there was a major case,” Caledonia County Sheriff Dean Shatney said about the possibility for slower response times, “It would be planned in advance.”
Sheriffs’ departments across the Green Mountain State are either on county or state soil. If they are on state soil, like the Caledonia County Sheriff’s Department, then the state controls the rent prices for the building.
“If it stays at the rate they are asking for us to pay, I think there is no way we can stay here,” Caledonia Side Judge Roy Vance said.
“We are thinking of relocating the office out of this facility because of the cost,” Caledonia County Sheriff Dean Shatney said. "I cannot justify the expense to the taxpayers.”
The county once owned the 150-year-old courthouse until it’s 1995 renovations. In 1995, the Caledonia County Courthouse underwent $8 million worth of renovations. The project included expanding the number of courtrooms and also added an area in the basement for the Caledonia County Sheriff’s Department to move into.
“We were so packed and we didn’t have the space to run the court,” Vance said. “We had two courtrooms, now we have four. We have a lot more space to run our operations.”
The state of Vermont then stepped in to help pay for the expensive renovations, but it came with a cost for the county.
“At the time what they were asking for, it would have been impossible for us to put the county in that type of debt,” Vance said.
Although the cost for the courthouse renovation went down, the cost for the sheriff’s department increased over time.
This is not the only time a local sheriff’s department has faced a possible relocation. In recent years, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department relocated because of a lack of space in their former location, as their department expanded. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department moved from their old building -- which is now their jail -- to their new location -- which they purchased for about $1.
“In getting this building here for virtually a dollar, we basically saved the taxpayer $2 million,” Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak said.
Orange County recently relocated saving the county money, and Caledonia County is looking to do the same by possibly moving. The Caledonia County Side Judges and the Caledonia Sheriff looked at three locations, and they narrowed it down to one, according to Caledonia Side Judge John Hall. He also said they are going to be seeing the difference in pricing between fitting the new building with sheriff department’s equipment and how much the rent for their current location will cost. Hall said nothing is set in stone because the department may or may not move; it will all depend on whether the state is willing to reduce the rent for the sheriff’s department’s current location.
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