The Grand Isle County Courthouse is now open four days a week for limited in-person services, officials said, with security provided by an armed state court officer.
The courthouse in North Hero is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., said Tari Scott, the state’s chief of trial court operations. An air filter was installed near the service counter, she said, so staff members can allow one to two people inside the building at a time.
Court hearings will continue to be held remotely, Scott said, because the building does not have an adequate ventilation system. It was built in 1824 and is one of the oldest courthouses still functioning in the state.
“We won’t be admitting people past the service counter,” she said.
The Grand Isle County Courthouse was closed for in-person services three days a week starting in August after the county sheriff’s department ended its security services at the building, and state officials did not immediately line up a full-time replacement.
Scott and other officials have told VTDigger the sheriff’s decision came down to staffing issues that are not unique to Grand Isle County. Sheriff’s departments across Vermont are struggling to recruit qualified deputies and pay competitive wages, they said, which has “a cascading effect” when deputies retire and then can’t be replaced.
The judiciary still is “actively pursuing” five-day-a-week security coverage for the courthouse, Scott said, noting “that has been our goal from the beginning.”
On days the North Hero building is closed to the public, Islanders can call in or email court filings, or use a nearby dropbox. People who want to drop off court paperwork in person — including filings that involve emergency relief from abuse, stalking and sexual assault — need to travel to courthouses in Franklin County.
“We wouldn’t feel comfortable having somebody alone in an unsecured building,” Scott said, speaking about the court clerk. “All phone calls go to Franklin on the days that somebody’s not in the building.”
Grand Isle State’s Attorney Douglas DiSabito, who has been a vocal critic of the partial courthouse closure, said officials need to reopen the building full time to ensure Islanders have the same access to justice as residents of other Vermont counties.
DiSabito knows of at least one resident who had difficulty getting a court official to answer a phone call about their case, he said. In August, the state’s attorney told VTDigger he attempted to call the courthouse as if he were submitting an emergency relief filing, but got a message that all the lines were busy.
“You go to Chittenden County, you go to Rutland County, they have more than one courthouse,” DiSabito said. “So they have more options.”
The state also should install a mechanical ventilation system in the building, he said, so that hearings can resume in person.