WOODSTOCK — A Windsor County judge has “reversed” the Woodstock Village Trustees’ April decision to demote Police Chief Joe Swanson, finding trustees did not follow the proper procedure to remove him from office.
But whether Swanson will return to lead the department is unclear.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett issued a ruling stating the trustees were wrong when they decided they did not have to find legal “cause” for upholding Municipal Manager Eric Duffy’s demotion of Swanson to a patrol officer, the lowest rank in the department.
Because of that error, Corbett remanded the case back to the trustees for “further proceedings.” Now Woodstock officials have to decide whether to try to go through the process of removing Swanson again.
Under Vermont law, a police chief cannot be removed without “cause,” which would include “that they have ‘become negligent or derelict’ in their official duties, or have
engaged in ‘conduct unbecoming an officer,’ or if they have otherwise become unable to perform the functions of their jobs,” Corbett wrote in a separate August decision in the case.
The trustees argued that because the group had demoted Swanson rather than fire him from the department, they did not have to prove legal “cause.” Corbett rejected this argument.
The judge declined to rule on other questions raised by Swanson and by the Village, including whether the evidence for Swanson’s removal was sufficient to show “cause” or if he should be reinstated to active duty as chief.
It would be “premature” for the Superior Court to make those determinations until the trustees apply the correct legal precedent in their effort to remove Swanson, Corbett wrote.
“On remand, the trustees will have to decide whether to pursue further removal proceedings and how to handle petitioners’ employment duties in the meantime,” Corbett wrote. If the trustees opt to remove Swanson, they will have to prove that the decision meets ” ‘for cause’ standards.”
Though Swanson requested that the court “‘reinstate’ him to active duty,” Corbett wrote in his order, “it would be premature for this court to declare an outcome to this case.”
Swanson has a decades-long career in Woodstock. Duffy promoted him to chief in 2023, but unrest within the department emerged last fall.
Duffy first placed Swanson on paid administrative leave in October 2024 after his husband got into a verbal altercation with another driver while Swanson was in the car.
Two separate outside investigations absolved Swanson of any wrongdoing in that incident, but other issues in the department came to light during his leave, which prompted Municipal Manager Eric Duffy to investigate and demote the chief in January.
After Swanson appealed the demotion, the Woodstock Village Trustees held a marathon quasi-judicial hearing in March during which police department staff lodged a series of complaints including that Swanson was messy, hard to reach, kept an inconsistent schedule, was inconsistent or unresponsive in exercising discipline and sometimes reported for duty out of uniform.
The five trustees upheld the demotion in an April decision.
In May, Swanson appealed the trustees’ decision to Windsor Superior Court. His complaint centered around whether the trustees had sufficient evidence to remove him from office and asked the court to decide whether he should be reinstated.
Now with Corbett’s ruling, there is a conflict in Woodstock over who is in charge of the Police Department, as attorneys representing Swanson and the village disagree over how to interpret Corbett’s ruling.
Swanson’s Manchester-based attorney Linda Fraas argued Thursday that Swanson should be reinstated to the position and given back pay. At the time of the trustees’ April 17 decision, he was on administrative leave from his role as the chief of police, she argued.
“Our position is that the demotion was reversed so he is the chief,” Fraas said Thursday.
But the village made clear that Swanson will remain a patrol officer.
As of Thursday, interim Chief Christopher O’Keeffe is still at the department’s helm, said village attorney John Klesch of Burlington.
The judge “declined to grant Mr. Swanson’s request to be reinstated to the position of Police Chief,” Klesch wrote in a Thursday email statement. To Klesch, this means that it is up to the trustees to decide whether Swanson should be reinstated to chief pending “further review.”
Fraas said she intends to file a motion for contempt of court if Swanson is not reinstated.
“We really don’t expect the village to do the right thing, because they haven’t done the right thing at all to date, and the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior,” Fraas said.