We Are Vermont’s Assistant Judges

The twenty-eight independently elected Assistant Judges are elected for four-year terms: two judges per county as established by the Vermont Constitution.

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Vermont Constitution (1793), Chapter II, § 50

“The Assistant Judges shall be elected by the voters of their respective districts as established by law. Their judicial functions shall be established by law…”

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The Assistant judges are the elected county executives responsible for the administration of the county budget and all other county affairs; in our judicial function we sit as finders of fact in civil and family court alongside the presiding Superior Court Judge—hence the term “side judges.”

THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSOCIATION:

• To preserve county government and the constitutional office of Assistant Judge;
• to educate Vermonters about the role and importance of county government and of Assistant Judges;
• to work with the Vermont Judiciary in efforts to maintain a strong and independent Judicary;
• to provide education and support for the Assistant Judges as they perform their official duties.