=09 A High Bailiff Abroad: From Russia, Helali Talks OC Role=20

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Laments U.S. Political Climate
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By Staff

on September 25, 2025

By Maryellen Apelquist

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Christopher Helali, who was elected high bailiff in Or= ange County last year, now works in Russia, though he says he=E2=80=99s sti= ll very much a resident of Vershire. (Provided)

While the role of high bailiff, Vermont- wide, has earned an objectively= dull reputation over decades of disuse, the man who=E2=80=99s taken on the= job for Orange County is active in international circles=E2=80=94 some 4,5= 00 miles away.

Christopher Helali, who was elected high bailiff last November as a writ= e-in candidate, still calls Vershire home, he told The Herald in a recent i= nterview. These days, however, you=E2=80=99ll more likely find the former s= choolteacher and farmer in Russia.

Helali, speaking by phone from Moscow, said he feels safer there than he= does in the United States, a sentiment he says has been reinforced by rece= nt events, including the assassination of right-wing activist and media per= sonality Charlie Kirk.

=E2=80=9CI think the recent killing of Charlie Kirk points to the level = of political violence and decay and the, you know, the fragmentation in Ame= rican society,=E2=80=9D said Helali, who is also international secretary fo= r the American Communist Party.

=E2=80=9CAnd I think [it=E2=80=99s safer in Russia] as somebody who=E2= =80=99s very politically active.=E2=80=9D

Last April, in Vermont, the OC high bailiff accompanied Mohsen Mahdawi, = his friend, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist, to a naturaliza= tion appointment in Colchester. Helali watched and recorded as Mahdawi was = taken away by masked federal agents.

In terms of his own experience with the federal government, Helali said = he=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Cbeen detained off and on since 2013=E2=80=9D and was = on a Department of Homeland Security watch list in 2020 =E2=80=9Cas, like, = the second person that they were eyeing because I fought in Syria and again= st ISIS. But I guess that makes me, you know, a suspect.=E2=80=9D

For security reasons, DHS watch lists are not accessible by the public.<= /p>

Of his time in the U.S., Helali spoke of pressures not only from law enf= orcement but also from community members, including while teaching high sch= ool in Hanover, N.H., =E2=80=9Cbecause of my political viewpoints, which, o= f course, are not in the mainstream.=E2=80=9D

He referred to protections of free speech under the First Amendment feel= ing more tenuous.

=E2=80=9CYou can have those viewpoints, and you should be allowed to hav= e those viewpoints =E2=80=A6as long as you=E2=80=99re not causing imminent = harm or destruction of property, or speaking about overthrowing the governm= ent violently, then I think that should be protected.

=E2=80=9CBut you can see that we are in a situation where there=E2=80=99= s a further increase in political violence, in hatred, in, you know, this s= ort of polarization that=E2=80=99s gripping U.S. society. And it=E2=80=99s = something that I don=E2=80=99t experience here=E2=80=9D in Russia.

In Russia, he said, =E2=80=9CThere are other, of course, issues, but my = safety and security is not one of them.=E2=80=9D

Helali left teaching and agriculture behind to put his legal background = to work at international law firm JPA. There he serves as a general manager= for the firm=E2=80=99s entities in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin Americ= a. JPA does not have offices in the United States.

Back in Vermont, while high bailiffs rarely do anything, they are respon= sible for assuming the duties of the county sheriff if that person is deeme= d unfit, or in the event of a vacancy. They also may facilitate the arrest = of the sheriff if necessary.

According to Helali, his boss at JPA is OK with him returning to the U.S= . to meet his high-bailiff responsibilities, should the need arise.

=E2=80=9CI would be back to take up the role. Of course, it would be som= ething temporary, as we know,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CTo be a steward of= that position and to maintain calm and stability and everything like that.= Absolutely.=E2=80=9D

According to the Vermont Secretary of State=E2=80=99s office, there is n= o express Vermont residency requirement for high bailiffs or other county o= fficers.

=E2=80=9CThe Court in Noble v. Sec=E2=80=99y of State ruled that sheriff= s and attorneys general are not required to be county residents of the coun= ty they represent,=E2=80=9D wrote Se=C3=A1n Sheehan, director of elections = and campaign finance, in an email to The Herald. =E2=80=9CHigh bailiff is a= county officer that falls under the same constitutional and statutory fram= ework as sheriffs and attorneys general.=E2=80=9D

H= igh Bailiff Duties

Like a few other Vermonters elected high bailiff in recent years, Helali= previously had hoped the position would afford an opportunity for civilian= oversight of law enforcement.

=E2=80=9COf course, I have the same attitude as others who have expresse= d to me the importance of this position being an opportunity to have oversi= ght, to have some level of transparency over what=E2=80=99s being done at t= he sheriff=E2=80=99s department, what=E2=80=99s being done in law enforceme= nt in our counties.=E2=80=9D

Helali learned quickly that there is no provision in the state constitut= ion that allows such oversight.

Bobby Sand, a former Windsor County state=E2=80=99s attorney who leads t= he Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law & Graduate School, served a= s high bailiff of Windsor County from 2021 to 2023.

Like most other high bailiffs over the last several decades, Sand was ne= ver called to action. While he previously suggested Vermont revisit the rol= e =E2=80=9Cto serve a higher purpose=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94=E2=80=9Cnot so much = policing the sheriff but more as a service to the legislature=E2=80=9D to = =E2=80=9Creport on the justice system in each county,=E2=80=9D Sand is not = currently actively pursuing such change.

During an interview last week, the law professor and former prosecutor s= aid, =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s an underappreciated fact in Vermont that every c= ounty handles criminal justice matters differently.=E2=80=9D He cited resou= rce issues, disproportionate use of incarceration, no itemization of costs,= and the need for better accounting of crime rates.

Sand said another factor motivated him to run for high bailiff five year= s ago: potential conflicts of interest.

Frequently, deputies are elected to the high-bailiff seat and in the eve= nt action were needed, =E2=80=9Cit would be an employee having to take acti= on against the employee=E2=80=99s boss.=E2=80=9D

The current Windsor County high bailiff, Claude Weyant, a longtime capta= in under the previous sheriff, is now a deputy.

Weyant, like Helali, was a write-in during the 2024 elections, but his m= otivation for pursuing the office was different. Noticing that no one was o= n the ballot for Windsor County, Weyant recalled telling himself, =E2=80=9C= Somebody has got to do it.=E2=80=9D

He noted that his 25 years in law enforcement is an asset to the role, s= hould action ever be needed.

=E2=80=9CI feel that I would be probably one of the better people=E2=80= =94not trying to sound, trying to be humble=E2=80=94because of all my years= of experience at the Windsor County [Sheriff=E2=80=99s Department]. I am m= ore familiar with the operations of the office than just about anybody.=E2= =80=9D

Somebody has got to be in there who knows what they are doing.=E2=80=9D<= /p>

Weyant also said that he hopes stepping into action as high bailiff is n= ever needed. =E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s what we hope for.=E2=80=9D

Sand described high bailiff as a holdover from a different time, before = the Vermont State Police existed, when the sheriff was the highest law enfo= rcement in the land.

Speaking from Moscow, Helali noted the uniqueness of the position=E2=80= =94other states don=E2=80=99t have a high bailiff=E2=80=94and its potential= , still.

=E2=80=9CIf we want it to be something like I think some Vermonters are = asking for, a position that allows for some accountability and transparency= and oversight of law enforcement at the county level, I think that that=E2= =80=99s something that=E2=80=99s ultimately in the hands of Vermonters,=E2= =80=9D he said, noting that voters can petition and speak to their represen= tatives =E2=80=9Cand see if we can change the Vermont constitution.=E2=80= =9D

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=09 A High Bailiff Abroad: From Russia, Helali Talks OC Role=20

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