Vermont Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Carroll has announced she will be retiring after serving more than eight years on the high court bench.
The state’s Court Administrator’s Office stated in a press release Wednesday morning that Carroll, 62, had notified Gov. Phil Scott that she plans to step off the court in August.
Carroll’s retirement means Scott, a Republican, will have an opportunity to select another justice on the five-member high court. Scott previously selected Nancy Waples in 2022 and William Cohen in 2019 to serve as associate justices.
The other two members of the court include Chief Justice Paul Reiber, who was appointed by Republican Gov. James Douglas in 2003, and Associate Justice Harold Eaton, named to the court by Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, in 2014.
Carroll was sworn in by Scott in April 2017, replacing Associate Justice John Dooley on the court.
Reiber, in a statement Wednesday, said he had a “deep gratitude” for Carroll’s “dedicated service” to the state.
“Justice Carroll has had an outstanding legal career as a lawyer, prosecutor and jurist,” Reiber stated, adding that court users have benefited “greatly from her tireless service on the bench and from her long-standing commitment to access to justice principles.”
Carroll had previously served as a state superior court judge in criminal, civil and family divisions in Windham, Windsor and Bennington counties, according to the press release. She was appointed to the state superior court bench in December 2000 by Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat.
Before that appointment, Carroll worked in the Vermont attorney general’s office and as a deputy state’s attorney.
Carroll also served on several statewide committees and commissions, including as the chair of the Access of Justice Coalition and as co-chair of the Vermont Judiciary Committee on Mental Health and the Courts.
