Governor Jim Douglas says he doesn’t know whether he’ll appoint a new chief justice to the Vermont Supreme Court before the November election. Douglas calls the selection of a chief justice the most important decision a governor makes and says he wants to take the necessary time to consider it.
A vacancy on the five-member court occurred in August with the departure of Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy. Douglas has the option of bringing in someone new to the court to be chief justice or appointing one of the associate justices as chief and then filling that slot.