WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — After over a year of operating in alternate locations, the criminal and family dockets were able to return last month to the Windsor County District Court building, which underwent significant renovations necessitating a temporary move.
Court staff, attorneys and clients who adjusted to the change are back to their normal arrangement.
Located at 82 Railroad Row in White River Junction, the courthouse needed upgrades to its HVAC system, boilers, windows, roof, lighting, security area and clerks’ office.
The project focused on updates to the security system such as cameras and alarms. It also included replacing oil boilers with pellet boilers and roof repairs to address leaking.
“One of the main goals of the renovation was to improve the energy efficiency of the building,” Vermont Buildings and General Services Communications Manager Cole Barney said by phone Friday.
The Vermont Legislature allocated a total of $16 million for this project, but the exact cost has not yet been determined, said Barney.
One improvement to the White River Junction courthouse is increased space and safety measures in the clerks’ office, said Regional Superior Court Clerk Anne Damone. The window now has protective glass covering the entire area between the employee and the public.
“A lot of people that come to court are, rightfully so, very upset,” Damone said by phone Friday. “And sometimes, they are angry, so it’s a safety concern for our staff.”
Security used to be right at the entrance, which at times, backed people up outside the building. Now, there is more space available for the process.
The courthouse hosts all of the county’s criminal and family cases, but needed to go out of commission in order to better provide those services. As a result, the dockets moved out in November 2024. The court reopened for business on Feb. 2.
Approximately $473,000 out of the $16 million figure went into making the relocation to temporary accommodations possible, said Barney.
While the construction project was underway, the criminal and civil dockets were lumped together in Woodstock because they both utilize jury trials, said Damone. Without the ability to hold remote hearings, many cases would have been backlogged.
“We had to put what we normally put into five courtrooms into two courtrooms,” Damone said.
The Woodstock courthouse, which handles civil disputes and probate cases, welcomed the criminal docket toward the end of 2024. The Woodstock courthouse has two courtrooms, and one of them served as a jury room at times. The White River Junction courthouse has three courtrooms.
“The weeks we had a jury trial with the jury there, then family court hearings had to be remote because we just didn’t have another courtroom,” said Damone.
To accommodate the criminal docket, the state installed a temporary holding cell in the Woodstock courthouse, said Damone. The holding cell could host only one person.
However, the single holding cell at Woodstock created some issues, State transport deputy Michael Gilderdale said Friday at the Windsor County District Court. The courthouse in White River Junction can hold up to 12 inmates at a time.
With just one holding cell available to inmates present for court appearances, some people in custody, particularly those brought for arraignment, had to wait outside the courthouse in police cars for the cell to free up. The issue of someone being stuck in the car occurred on a weekly basis. A couple times, two people were outside waiting, said Gilderdale.
The staff at Woodstock, including clerks, judges and attorneys made the process as seamless as it could have been under the circumstances, said Gilderdale. Those in custody were typically understanding of the situation.
“We’ve never had an issue out in the vehicle with someone having a problem waiting,” said Gilderdale.
Now he is pleased to have a newer building and is impressed by the amount of work done while they were gone, he said.
A total of 12 staff members and four judges across the different dockets worked in temporary locations during the construction.
For Taaha Rehmani of the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s office, the location change added a commute, but was manageable. While he considered the courthouse in Woodstock to be beautiful and historic, it was also located 30 minutes away from his office.
“Every time you’d have to go to court, you’d lose an hour,” said Rehmani Friday at the Windsor County District Court.
While Rehmani could not speak to the experience of defendants, he said the location change did cause confusion with witnesses.
“We did have people who showed up in White River, not realizing they needed to be in Woodstock. That took some adjustment,” said Damone.
Damone feels the transition went well despite all divisions involved.
“I was very impressed with how cooperative and resilient the staff and the judges were in making this work. Everybody worked together really well as a team and I was very proud to be part of that,” said Damone.