Lamoille County
Lamoille County Courthouse
154 Main Street
Hyde Park, VT 05655
(802) 888-3887
COURTHOUSE HOURS
Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm
SUPERIOR COURT OF VERMONT
Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate Divisions
154 Main Street
Hyde Park, VT 05655
(802) 888-3887
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm
ASSISTANT JUDGES
Hon. Madeline M. Motta
Madeline M. Motta is a lawyer, academic and corporate and government ethics compliance consultant.
Dr. Motta holds a Doctorate in Civil Law (DCL) from McGill University, Faculty of Law with a specialization on fiduciary law and ethics. She received her Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Massachusetts, School of Law and she holds a MSW from the School of Social Work, McGill University.
Dr. Motta has extensive experience in public policy and in anti-trust law in the health care and biomedical sector. She has advised Federal Agencies in Canada and the US on complying with complex International and Federal regulations and authored national and provincial policy recommendations on First Nations’ judicial administration, community health, mental health and public safety. She teaches bioethics to allied health college students and has written numerous journal articles on emergent legal and ethical issues. Dr. Motta was instrumental in creating legislation and establishing the Vermont State Ethics Commission Office and was elected the first Chair of the State Ethics Commission. Dr. Motta is a UN Observer with a national NGO that is focused on ending human trafficking in the US and Canada.
Judge Motta is a member of the Vermont Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee.
Hon. Patricia Gabel
Patricia Gabel is a lawyer with many years of experience representing clients on a wide range of business, employment, and conflict resolution matters. She has been a resident of Vermont for over 45 years and a resident of Lamoille County for almost 20 years.
Judge Gabel was appointed to the bench by Governor Phil Scott in 2024 to fill a vacancy in the Lamoille County court system. She serves as a fact finder in the family and civil divisions, which include cases involving domestic violence, stalking, extreme risk protection orders, divorce, parental rights and responsibilities, and evictions, as examples. She is committed to providing fair and impartial justice to all parties who appear before her and her colleagues in Lamoille County.
Judge Gabel previously worked for over sixteen years in the Vermont Judiciary and served as the Vermont State Court Administrator. As CEO of the Vermont Judicial Branch, she was responsible for all non-judicial personnel, the Judicial Branch budget, and the administration of all aspects of the Branch, comprising 400+ employees and judicial officers, 20+ worksites, and a $50M+ annual budget. Her first job in the court system was as the Judicial Educator, with oversight responsibility for the education of all judges. She retired as the State Court Administrator in 2021 to return to her law practice and consulting work.
A graduate of Vassar College and the Albany Law School of Union University, where she served as a Chief Notes Editor of the Albany Law Review, Judge Gabel is a Fellow of Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, where she concentrated in negotiation and conflict resolution during her year in residence. She has been active throughout her career in mission-driven organizations, serving as a founder, director, and officer of numerous non-profit organizations.
Courthouse History
HYDE PARK, VERMONT
Lamoille was the last county to be organized in Vermont and was created by the Vermont General Assembly in 1832. After considerable rivalry, Hyde Park, whose charter dates back to 1790, was selected as the shire town over more populous town competitors.
The first courthouse was built in 1836 by the inhabitants of the town. It was a wood structure containing a convenient court room, a jury room, the county clerk’s office and the office of the probate judge. Like many of the old courthouses, the jail was attached in the right-hand wing with the judge’s chambers on the left. The first term of the court was held in 1837.
This first courthouse burned down in 1910, a disastrous fire described in the Morrisville News and Chronicle newspaper as “one of the worst fires in Lamoille County.” The fire started in the jail and continued to spread, destroying eighteen houses, including the church next door.
Not daunted by this disaster, the public-spirited citizens of the town formed a “Village Improvement Society” and sold shares to rebuild the courthouse and the village. Again, there was a great controversy as to the location of the new courthouse. However, Hyde Park won out a second time. The News and Chronicle proclaimed the new courthouse to be one of the finest in the State.
An interesting piece of history from the earlier years, still hangs in the County Clerk’s office in a framed picture with the following inscription:
FREE SOIL DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
All the Democratic Freeman of the County of Lamoille who are in favor of a Free Government, Free Men, and Free Discussion, opposed to the further extension of the institution of slavery into the Free Territory, are requested to meet in Mass Convention at the Court House in Hyde Park on the 29th of July, 10:00 o’clock A.M. for the purpose of consultation and action and of the purpose of taking such measures as may be thought proper in the present crisis. All who wish to perpetuate freedom rather than slavery are invited to attend. July 12, 1848.
PLACE MARKER: Renovation and Expansion of Courthouse 2015 -2016