A Vermont lawmaker’s outstanding arrest warrant in Illinois was brought to light Friday by his former political opponent, who discovered it while defending his own felony charge.
Rep. Chris Bates (D-Bennington) was convicted of aggravated DUI in 2012, according to McHenry County, Ill., court records obtained by Seven Days. The charge stemmed from a 2010 arrest.
It was his third DUI, making it a felony.
Bates pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a lighter form of probation called conditional discharge. But the state sought to revoke the sentence in October 2013 because Bates missed a court date and failed to pay all fees. A judge issued a warrant for Bates’ arrest that remains active, though Vermont is not among the states from which he may be extradited.
Bates said he moved to Vermont the same year he was convicted, 2012, but before the warrant was issued in 2013. A fishing guide, he hosts a radio show on WBTN called “Outdoor Secrets Unwrapped.”
Last year, he was elected to the Vermont House in his first campaign for public office, handily defeating fellow outdoorsman Kevin Hoyt, a Republican. During the campaign, Bates called himself the “Fishin’ Politician.”
Bates’ record did not come to light during the campaign. A VTDigger.org story about the race states that Bates moved to Vermont from the Davenport, Iowa area. He listed an Illinois address on 2010 court records related to the felony DUI.
After getting a message Friday that a Seven Days reporter wanted to speak with him, Bates began gathering his things from around his seat on the House floor. He then got up before debate resumed and began to leave the Statehouse.
Approached in the hallway, Bates acknowledged he was dealing with a legal issue but he declined to provide details.
“I have heard a lot of rumors out there right now, and I know that I will have to answer them,” Bates said.
Later Friday, Bates issued a lengthy statement through his attorney in which he acknowledged past problems and struggles with alcohol abuse.
“Since moving to Vermont in 2012 I have come to know this to be a place of great compassion and forgiveness — and a place of second chances for those among us who have, like I, slipped in our past lives,” Bates wrote. “Fortunately, I have addressed head on the challenges I experienced with alcohol use while living in Illinois and, most importantly, I have been blessed to have led a healthy, productive and public life here in my new home, Vermont, free of the sorts of incidents that have blemished my past.”
Bates, 59, said he was convicted of multiple misdemeanor assaults in his late teens and early 20s. He said he only learned of the outstanding warrant last week and was working with his attorney to resolve it within the “next week or so.”
DUI convictions typically include revocation of driving privileges, and Bates was also indicted for driving on a suspended license in 2010. Vermont and Illinois are part of an interstate sharing agreement that allows driving restrictions to be enforced across state lines.
Bates’ attorney, Allan Sullivan, told Seven Days he did not know whether Bates drives in Vermont. The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed that it had not issued a legislator license plate this year for Bates’ seat.
In his statement, Bates said that he was “disappointed to learn that certain persons, in order, it seems, to advance their own personal interests, have published highly personal information about me.”
That appears to be a reference to Hoyt, who, along with his partner, posted Friday to Facebook about Bates’ outstanding warrant.
Hoyt told Seven Days that he learned of what he called Bates’ “fugitive” status during discovery for a criminal case in Bennington County in which Hoyt was accused of poaching a deer and obstructing the game warden who came to his house to investigate.
Included in confidential discovery documents, he said, was a criminal history report on Bates pulled from the National Crime Information Center, a law enforcement database.
Hoyt said he believes Bates’ inclusion in the state’s evidence suggests his former political opponent may have been in “cahoots” with the warden who investigated Hoyt.
Fish and Wildlife Department Warden Travis Buttle showed up at Hoyt’s home earlier this year after being sent a screenshot of a photo Hoyt posted to Facebook displaying a partially decomposed, eight-point deer skull, the Bennington Banner reported. Hoyt had not reported harvesting an eight-point buck last year.
Hoyt, according to court records reported by the Banner, grabbed the antlers and ran, while calling for a Rottweiler to be let out.
The charges had hit close to home for Hoyt, a hunting television personality. He’s also an outspoken gun-rights activist and vocal critic of former state representative Kiah Morris. Hoyt crashed a January press conference where the findings of a state probe into Morris’ racial harassment were announced, claiming he had been unfairly labeled a Nazi.
On Friday, he alleged that there was a conspiracy against him and to conceal Bates’ past reaching the highest levels of Vermont politics. He also reiterated his gripes with Morris, whom he described several times as “colored.”
After learning of Bates’ criminal history, Hoyt said, he sent letters to the secretary of state, the Bennington County state’s attorney and the Bennington police, demanding to know why Bates hadn’t been arrested.
Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage dropped the charges against Hoyt on Thursday, according to court records.
Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette told Seven Days that he reviewed Bates’ warrant and determined that it was not enforceable in Vermont.
“Vermont law enforcement officers are not allowed to arrest people on out-of-state warrants unless extradition is approved,” he said.
Nonetheless, Hoyt claimed the revelation about Bates’ past undermines the legitimacy of last fall’s election.
“We’ve elected a fugitive from justice,” he said.
Updated May 20, 2019, to reflect that the case against Hoyt was dismissed.
Kevin McCallum contributed reporting.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
TJ Donovan is a phony and just as crooked as the rest of the politicians, including Jim Condos who has known about my plight for years. I was a Real Estate Appraiser who was wrongfully brought up on charges by a fellow Appraiser Anne Bernhardt, whose husband had run for Governor. Of course, she gets herself a seat on the State Appraisal Board when she files the complaint and gets off after my hearing. This was just a ploy to stack the jury against me with her puppet lawyer, Gregg Meyer, of the State Office of Professional Regulation. Even though, I showed Mr. Meyer, in BLACK & WHITE, I was correct and Anne was wrong, all Mr. Meyer could say is; “we’re going after you!” They did and my family and I have lost EVERYTHING! But Condos doesn’t want to do anything because he would have to fire half of his staff. Crooked, unethical and unlawful. Step up Mr. Donovan and do YOUR job!
So this is the best Bennington County has, a fugitive from justice and a racist who poaches deer? What a sad state of affairs when a capable, amazing black woman is forced to resign from the legislature and these two crawl out of the slime.
Does a candidate have to disclose a previous criminal record? When applying for state and federal jobs you must, it would seem when running for office the same standard should apply. The public deserves to know. Substance abuse is difficult and I hope he is in a better place but leaving Illinois with an outstanding warrant is not kosher. If he is intentionally shadowing this failure to abide by the law he should step down.
One eagerly awaits an outraged response from Jeff Weaver, Sanders crony and tireless systemic racism finger-waggler, who stands steadfast and fearless in his condemnation of these rampant race-based political outings.
In the meantime, permit me “a very measured response” as it were, as I step in to warm up the crowd:
“Sadly, like too many others in our society, The Seven Days wants to brand political representatives and fishing guides like Chris Bates for life – an attitude that disproportionately impacts white people and middle class people. This is just another way systemic racism works. Its disappointing that The Seven Days is helping to uphold it.”
Please understand that this is not “an indictment of Seven Days as an institution” and I do not assert, nor undoubtedly will Mr. Weaver, that news outlets should never report on the criminal backgrounds of white fishing guide and lawmakers. I only make “the observation that when you engage in this kind of call-out reporting on a story that’s been previously reported … all it does is reinforce an unfair system.”
Reenie Phillips – a candidate should definitely reveal it, but to be honest, Trump is making a very strong case that it matters only when you are a Democrat.
I was wondering about the dislikes on my post. My family and I have been through hell. I did NOTHING wrong and as stated, I proved myself in print. But, when the jury is stacked, you cannot prove your innocence. I lost 3 investment properties, we had nights where we ate Cereal for Dinner and we were days away from being kicked out of our family home. I had college aged kids crying, here when they thought they were going to have to leave their childhood home. Do you know what that feels like? Obviously not. I would have never thought this could happen in Vermont. When I was gathering evidence to prove my innocence, the assessor in Sunderland told me, “don’t worry, they have nothing right.” I really wasn’t worried, but I should have been. Again, I did not realize how crooked and unethical government is, here in Vermont. I would not wish this on my worst enemy.
Face it, pretty much all politicians are crooked!
Christopher Hill, your statement is laughable. She’s just as corrupt.
The black woman resigned because she was padding her expense reports and they caught her. Keep up with the news. And interestingly enough 7 days does not report the charges against Hoyt were dropped…..
parabellum, can you please cite your source for that accusation about former Rep. Morris? That is either a baseless lie you made up to comment here or something you heard from an unreliable source and decided to take as truth and repeat. Either way, your comment stinks of pure racism as this is simply not true. I know the legislature’s small operations staff and they are totally shocked at this claim, so I would love to know what you know that they don’t!
Soo…Mr Bates has no middle name according to Ballotpedia…other pics, do not clearly show face, besides this one. Statehouse photo is wearing shades? One of him shooting is a difficult to see blurred face, there is much more online if anyone cares to look and its not special websites but readily available info…And quite frankly I’m appalled that a fugitive from justice with lengthy criminal history including violent crimes is given redcarpet treatment here in VT period. As our own w/far less charges languish behind bars and end up dying in out of state for-profit prisons.
Hang your head in shame those who support this injustice esp the likes of our top-cop and sanctuary-state supporting AG and our governor – cowardly lion Phil Scott.