Gov. Mills decides not to remove Oxford County sheriff accused of misconduct

Gov. Janet Mills speaks at an Oct. 26 press conference about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)

Gov. Janet Mills on Monday announced that she would not remove the Oxford County sheriff from office, concurring with an advisory opinion from a retired judge.

The decision comes after the Oxford County Commissioners in February filed a complaint against Sheriff Christopher Wainwright and asked Mills to remove him from office. The complaint revolved around several allegations against Wainwright. 

Commissioners complained that Wainwright improperly disposed of firearms, provided several school resource officers that lacked the needed certification, and inappropriately pressured a subordinate. 

After the complaint, Mills appointed retired Maine Supreme Court Justice Donald Alexander to provide a non-binding, advisory opinion on the matter. Alexander recommended against removing Wainwright, and Mills agreed with that opinion. 

“My decision here should not be viewed as a vindication of Sheriff Wainwright,” she wrote in a memo outlining her opinion. “The hearing record shows that he has made mistakes and acted intemperately on occasion.” 

But she added that, “the evidence presented falls short of satisfying what must be a high standard for the governor’s removal from office of a popularly elected sheriff.” 

To remove a sheriff from office, the governor must find that the sheriff was “not faithfully or efficiently performing any duty imposed upon the sheriff by law.”

The Oxford County Commissioners did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mills’ decision. 

Mills, a Democrat, addressed each of the allegations against Wainwright. On the school resource officer issue, Mills said evidence shows the problem was the result of a paperwork handling error and process mistakes that originated from before the sheriff’s time in office. She added that there is no evidence the people appointed lacked the skills to be certified and concluded that the issue did not represent a serious failing on Wainwright’s part. 

On the allegations related to firearms, Mills said evidence shows Wainwright traded in firearms from a federally-licensed dealer for credits used to offset some of the cost of new service weapons. She wrote that there are no allegations that Wainwright personally profited from that or that the transaction clearly violated any law or standard. While Mills said it would have been prudent for Wainwright to get buy-in from the county commissioners before trading the weapons, she argued that the “transactions in and of themselves do not justify removal.” 

Finally, Mills stated that evidence shows Wainwright asked a deputy to dismiss or pursue a reduced charge for a woman who got a ticket for drinking in a vehicle. Wainwright knows the woman’s sister, and the deputy was concerned that the request was unethical and potentially unlawful and made a complaint. Wainwright then confronted the deputy in an “aggressive manner, cursing and chastising him,” Mills wrote.    

The governor stated that Wainwright’s request itself was not necessarily improper but that the way he interacted with the deputy was a serious error. But she said the evidence does not show that the incident was indicative of a larger pattern of similar behavior and therefore didn’t feel it was sufficient cause to remove Wainwright from office. 

Ultimately, the governor argued that the electorate will decide Wainwright’s fate. 

“The voters of Oxford County should be the ultimate judge of the sheriff on these matters when and if he puts his name before them for reelection in the future,” she wrote.   

Wainwright is currently serving his second four-year term and will be up for re-election in 2026.

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