Lawand disorder in Vt.

MONTPELIER — Benjamin Franklin once observed that it is better to “slip with foot than tongue.”

In Vermont’s Franklin County, named for good ol’ Ben himself, the two top law enforcement officials have managed to slip badly with both foot and tongue.

Last year, John Grismore was elected sheriff despite being fired from the sheriff ’s department for kicking a shackled prisoner. As video of the attack played on local and national broadcasts, Grismore ignored pleas to drop out of the race or resign, even after he was criminally charged.

In that same election, John Lavoie was elected state’s attorney, Franklin County’s top prosecutor.

On Tuesday, Lavoie sat in a comfy chair in a stately room at the State House here as John Campbell, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, announced the results of an internal investigation into Lavoie’s conduct.

Campbell said Lavoie should resign or face impeachment for harassing and demeaning staff by using offensive language in the workplace.

Investigators found Lavoie made derogatory remarks about women, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and various religions, and made offensive observations about people’s “body composition.”

In short, Lavoie is the Archie Bunker of prosecutors, alleged to have cast hurtful words disguised as jokes at marginalized people.

Campbell, who declined to release examples of the offensive language, said Lavoie also touched two employees against their wishes, though Campbell said those “invasions of personal space” were not sexual in nature.

All told, Campbell said, Lavoie had created a hostile work environment, especially for women, who comprise most of his staff.

As Campbell described Lavoie as a loathsome boss, lacking a filter and common courtesy, Lavoie sat just feet away. When Campbell finished, Lavoie rose and gave his own impromptu press conference.

“I do acknowledge that my sense of humor is often inappropriate,” he said, but denied saying anything racist or sexist. He said he has made inappropriate remarks throughout his 20 years as a deputy prosecutor.

“I am the same guy that I have been all that time and I guess I have to apologize for now suddenly being out of step, maybe, with the times,” Lavoie said.

Lavoie, a Democrat, said he called a staff meeting to apologize for his behavior but suggested complaints about his conduct were politically motivated.

However out of step with the times, his conduct didn’t warrant his resignation, he insisted. He said his staff knows he’s a big joker.

“If you took my female staff off the street and introduced them to me and I began talking the way that I often talk, that might be shocking and dismaying,” Lavoie said. “But these are not people that I met two, three months ago. These are people I’ve been with for 20 years.”

Presumably, Lavoie would not be as understanding if a repeat offender prosecuted by his office trotted out the “Well, I’ve always been this way” defense.

Campbell scoffed at Lavoie’s defense.

“He is now the boss,” Campbell said. “He is now the one who creates the atmosphere in the office.”

Campbell expressed frustration that he lacks the power to remove an elected prosecutor or sheriff and called on legislators to act.

Prompted by scandals at several county sheriffs’ offices, Vermont legislators began considering a constitutional amendment earlier this year that would give legislators the power to do just that.

Lavoie’s conduct has only added to public sentiment that sheriffs and prosecutors in Vermont need more oversight.

On Thursday, House leaders announced they would seek to impeach both Lavoie and Grismore, a lengthy, arduous process.

Alas, the sheriff who kicks prisoners will not be prosecuted by the state’s attorney who demeans everybody. To avoid a possible conflict of interest, Grismore’s case was moved to another county.

Lavoie and Grismore, meanwhile, won’t back down.

Ben Franklin, the witty old sage, could have been riffing on the sheriff and prosecutor when he noted, “In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.”