A new state law will allow towns in Windham County to work together to fund and support law enforcement on a regional level.
Vermont does not have strong county government, and many small towns lack their own police force. That leaves towns to individually enter into hourly contracts with their local sheriff’s department if they want consistent public safety coverage.
Lawmakers this year agreed to allow Windham County Sheriff Mark Anderson to pioneer a different arrangement in southeastern Vermont. Under this model, towns would form a governance structure to oversee regional police coverage provided by the Windham Sheriff’s Department.
If the pilot project is successful, it could expand to other parts of the state.
“We saw this as a way to collaborate that currently doesn’t exist,” Anderson said. “We see this as an opportunity where we can say for the same amount of money we can provide a higher level of service, by sharing services amongst towns.”
There are 19 towns in Windham County that do not have their own police departments, and Anderson says he will be visiting with towns that want to take part in the voluntary program.
He says if at least five towns are ready to participate, he could have a budget for the regional police service ready before town meeting in 2027.
“We saw this as a way to collaborate that currently doesn’t exist."Mark Anderson, Windham County Sheriff
“We think we have a working model, but I’m not going to delude myself,” Anderson said. “This is the first step forward on actually doing something about the regionalization issue.”
Vermont lawmakers and local officials have repeatedly explored the idea of regionalizing public safety services across towns, including dispatch, EMS and policing. But despite years of studies, regionalized policing has remained largely theoretical.
Anderson said towns that do not want to try out the new model will be able to continue contracting with his department for hourly services.
He said the pay structure, and assessments on the taxpayers within each town, will be voted on by the governance council, which will include representatives from each town.
Anderson said he has been working on the regional policing model for four years after seeing small towns struggle to fund their ever-increasing law enforcement bills, which usually don’t even provide the level of service residents are asking for.
He thinks that by removing that hourly fee, and having his staff be able to work in between towns, he can deliver better service at a similar or possibly lower cost.
Sheriff’s deputies would conduct regular patrols and be available to respond to calls across the region, much like a local police department, rather than providing a set number of hours of service.
The governance council will be required to submit annual reports to the Legislature, which will include financial statements, service delivery statistics and recommendations for improvement.
And before September 30, 2030, the council is expected to submit a comprehensive report that could include a proposed framework to set up the regional policing model statewide.
“The studies that have been done on this have been academic in nature and this is a study in practice,” said Anderson. “We’ve built a model that allows us to answer questions that have never been answered in 60 years of study.”
