The Essex County courthouse — a part-time operation in Vermont’s least-populated county — is set to undergo an almost $3.7 million state-funded renovation starting this summer.
Supporters say the project will bring the courthouse in Guildhall into the 21st century, connecting it to a neighboring building also owned by the county. The work will increase meeting space and add a holding cell and bathroom, among other changes.
Laura Wilson, the county’s contracted public defender, has been skeptical of the project’s scope and cost, particularly given that there are no plans to expand the court’s limited operations. And now, the construction is forcing her to leave her longtime office in the neighboring county building by the end of the month.
Officers delivered a notice to Wilson to vacate her office by June 30 following a decision made by the local assistant judges. In a June 2 letter to the assistant judges’ lawyer, she urged the county leaders to reconsider.
“The abrupt termination of this modest Guildhall office, without consultation or exploration of alternatives, sends an unfortunate message about the importance and value of access to counsel in our criminal justice system,” Wilson wrote.
Assistant judges, sometimes called side judges, oversee a county’s budget. In Essex County, the building next to the courthouse provides office space, including for Wilson and the county sheriff’s department.
Evan Hammond and Ken Stransky, Essex County’s assistant judges, declined a request for comment through their attorney Michael Tarrant. Instead, Tarrant wrote in an email that “there is no public defender tenancy with the county.”
“Attorney Laura Wilson, in her private capacity, was provided notice that her private tenancy in the complex is being terminated because the County requires the space for judicial employees,” he wrote, adding that defense attorneys would still have access to space for meeting with clients.
Essex County Probate Judge and Orleans County Deputy State’s Attorney Sam Swope is also leaving the office he rents privately in the county building as a result of the renovations, according to Wilson and Essex County State’s Attorney Vince Illuzzi.
During construction — scheduled to begin this summer — hearings will be held at one of the county buildings next door to the courthouse.
Wilson’s frustration resonated with fellow Northeast Kingdom defense attorney Trudy Miller, who called it “ironic” that the renovation would lead to the removal of the public defender’s office, which serves as a “tangible symbol of justice, due process and hope.”
While maintaining a private practice, Wilson has worked as the county’s contracted public defender for about six years and maintained a Guildhall law office for 13. She said she has used the county-owned space for extended meetings with clients and their families, expungement clinics, competency evaluations and trial preparation. Without it, she said clients would have to drive 45 minutes to her office in Lyndonville.
In her letter, Wilson wrote that she was surprised officers served her the notice to vacate at home instead of the assistant judges, who she sees regularly, telling her in person.
Wilson has questioned the renovation’s utility. Jury draws at the courthouse occur roughly every other month, she said in an interview, and one day per month is devoted to criminal hearings like arraignments and sentencings. The county shares a judge with nearby Caledonia County.
Wilson would like to see the expensive renovation also come with an expansion of court time. “It becomes very difficult in one day a month to get everything in,” she said.
The limited judge time allocated to the county is indicative of ongoing outsourcing of services in Essex County, she said, noting that local officials have had to repeatedly fend off attempts to shut down the courthouse entirely.
Illuzzi, the county’s prosecutor who also served decades as the area’s state senator, has helped defeat those closure attempts. In an interview, he disagreed with Wilson’s characterizations of the renovation. He argued the update is necessary to bring the courthouse out of “the dark ages,” and given the county’s small court docket, doesn’t think an expansion of court time makes sense.
He also said asking the local public defender to move out was just a necessity, not an indication of an attack on due process.
“Given the scope of the renovations,” he said, “folks have to go somewhere.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to specify that both offices being vacated in the Essex County building due to courthouse renovations are rented privately.
