Vermont assistant judges tell Senate panel they manage aging courthouses, small county budgets and limited judicial duties

Joyce McKimann, president of the Vermont Association of County Judges and an Orange County assistant judge, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Feb. 12 that assistant judges hold a dual role: county executives responsible for courthouse upkeep and limited judicial officers who act as finders of fact in civil and family dockets.

McKimann said the Office of Assistant Judges is a constitutional office whose duties are statutory. "It is a constitutional office. We've existed since the founding of Vermont. However, our duties are statutory," she said, describing a statewide corps of 28 elected assistant judges who serve four-year terms and are up for reelection in 2026.

Why it matters: Assistant judges oversee many of Vermont's old county courthouses and the limited county budgets that sustain them. McKimann told the committee that courthouse condition affects the judiciary's ability to operate and access to justice for Vermonters.

McKimann described two broadly…