Gov. Peter Shumlin announced four judicial appointments Monday, including one to a recently funded judgeship created to address the deluge of child protection and opiate abuse cases.
There were 1,373 children in state custody as of last September, an increase of nearly 400 in two years. The governor and other officials have said that increase is directly related to the spiking number of parents addicted to heroin and prescription painkillers.
Burlington attorney John Pacht, a founding partner with the firm Hoff Curtis, will “fill a judgeship recently funded to help address increasing caseloads related to child protection and opiate-abuse across Vermont,” according to a news release from the governor.
Shumlin spokesman Scott Coriell said Pacht’s judgeship is different than a judgeship included in an $8.4 million package the governor proposed as part of the Budget Adjustment Act — though they would handle similar cases.
Court Administrator Patricia Gabel said the current judiciary budget included money for an existing, but long vacant, Superior Court judgeship. Lawmakers paid for the position to be filled in order to help deal with “the explosion of abuse and neglect cases in the court system,” she said.
In addition to adding another judge, the governor’s proposal would hire 35 staffers, including 28 new social workers. It would also add two public defenders and three state’s attorneys. Lawmakers will weigh that proposal when the legislative session begins later this month.
Pacht could also not be reached for comment.
Shumlin’s three other judicial appointments were made to fill vacancies created by retirements.
Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney Mary Morrissey will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael Kupersmith; Windsor County State’s Attorney Michael Kainen will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge John Wesley; and Burlington attorney Michael Harris will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Amy Davenport.
Shumlin appointed David Cahill to Kainen’s position as Windsor County State’s Attorney. Cahill currently serves as the executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.
