Government of Vermont

The Government of Vermont has a democratic republic for its form of state government, similar to the government of the United States, of which Vermont is a member.

Federal

U.S House Delegation

Based on U.S. census data, Vermont has one member in the House of Representatives:

Peter Welch (D) fills the single "at-large" seat.

U.S Senate Delegation

Like all states, Vermont has two senators in the US Senate. Vermont's current senators are Patrick Leahy, a (D), and Bernie Sanders, an (I), caucusing with the Democrats.

Judicial

Vermont has a US district court in Burlington, Vermont. Decisions there are subject to review by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in New York City. By law judges and attorneys are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The judges are:

• William K. Sessions III, Chief Judge
• Garvan Murtha, District Judge. Appointed 1995.
• Jerome J. Niedermeier, Magistrate Judge. Appointed in 1982

The US Attorney is Thomas D. Anderson. Appointed in 2006.

Holding Vermont's seat on the Second Circuit Court is Peter W. Hall who holds court in Rutland, Vermont. Appointed in 2004.

State Government

Vermont State House

The Vermont state capital is Montpelier. The Governor of Jim Douglas (R).

State law

The Constitution of Vermont is the supreme law of the state, followed by the Vermont Statutes. This is roughly analogous to the Federal United States Constitution, United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations respectively. Provision is made for the following "frame of government" under the Constitution of the State of Vermont: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. All members of the executive and legislative branch serve two-year terms including the governor and senators. There are no term limits for any office.

Civil rights and liberties

The Vermont Constitution outlines and guarantees broad rights for its citizens. Even in the eighteenth century it was seen as being among the most far-reaching in the new world and in Europe, and it predated the Bill of Rights by a dozen years. The Constitution's first chapter, "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" prohibits slavery, indentured servitude, and allowed for universal suffrage for men, regardless of property ownership. The Declaration of Rights set in place broad protections of religious freedom and conscience while erecting a strong firewall between church and state by prohibiting establishment or promotion of any faith by the government or compulsion to worship. The "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" is believed to have been a model for France's Déclaration universelle sur des droits de l'homme (Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man).

Legislative Branch

Vermont's state legislature is the Vermont General Assembly, a bicameral body composed of the Vermont House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Vermont Senate (the upper house) meet at the Vermont State House. The Senate is composed of 30 state senators, while the House of Representatives has 150 members.

State legislators are paid $536 per week while the legislature is in session plus $87 per diem.

With the current estimated population of Vermont from the last U.S. Census, there is approximately one Representative for every 4,059 residents.

Statutory

The age of consent in Vermont is 16.

Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to carry a concealed firearm without any sort of permit.

Vermont is one of four states (along with Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine) to have prohibited all billboards from view of highway rights-of-way by law, except for signs on the contiguous property of the business location.

Public nudity is legal in Vermont, though not disrobing in public. Within the State, thousands of nudists and skinnydippers gather for non-sexual nude recreation and host the World Naked Bike Ride Burlington through the streets of Burlington each year. The ride began in 2005 and has become an annual event.

Vermont is an Alcoholic beverage control state. Beer and wine may be sold in local grocery stores unless the town in which it is located has voted "dry" at their town meeting. Only state licensed establishments may sell stronger alcoholic beverages in bottles. The quantity of these stores is limited. Prices are set by the state. The state directly controls the licensing of establishments that sell alcoholic beverages by the drink.

Medical

As a result of statutory benefits like Dr. Dynasaur, Vermont, with 9.5% of the population with no medical insurance, has the second best coverage in the country, as of 2004.

Executive Branch

The Executive Branch consists of the Governor, and state agencies. The executive branch enacts and enforces the laws of the state. The Governor is the supreme executive.

The current governor of Vermont is Jim Douglas, who assumed office in 2003. The offices of the Governor of Vermont are located at The Pavilion in Montpelier, the state capital.

Vermonters elect a state governor and lieutenant governor on separate tickets. For example, when Republican Governor Richard Snelling died in office in 1991, the Democratic Lieutenant Governor Howard Dean succeeded him for the remainder of that term. In addition to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Vermonters elect four other officials on a statewide ballot: Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Vermont Auditor of Accounts, and Attorney General.

The executive branch had about 8,000 employees in 2005, making it the largest employer in the state. This high number is due, in part, to Vermont (and New England's) practice of assuming the functions, and therefore the budgets of the county government which is nearly non-existent.

Judicial Branch

The state's highest and the sole appellate court is the Vermont Supreme Court made up of five justices who serve six year terms.. The Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and, with the other justices of the supreme court, oversees the judicial branch. Vermont has three additional courts and one division.

Appointments to the state supreme court, superior court, and district courts are made by the governor, from a list of names submitted by the state's Judicial Nominating Committee and then are confirmed by the Senate. At the end of each six year term, the General Assembly votes by joint ballot (each member, senator or representative, getting one vote) on whether to retain the judge or justice (known as a judicial retention vote). Judges on lower courts are elected on a partisan ballot. The Vermont Constitution spells out the process of judicial appointment and retention in Chapter 2, Sections 32 through 35, 50 and 51.

• The Superior Court is the court of general jurisdiction and the only which provides for jury trials in civil and criminal cases. Superior courts in the state are made up of eight judges serving a term of six years.

• The state's Probate Court has jurisdiction over trusts, wills and estates, adoptions, termination of parental rights, name changes, guardianship of incapacitated persons, guardianship of minors, partition of property and involuntary admissions.

• The District Court hears cases involving families, juveniles, minor crimes and violations, and civil matters under $25,000.

• The Family Division has jurisdiction over divorce, custody/support and domestic violence cases.

Vermont is one of twelve states that have no death penalty statute. After 1930, there were four executions, the last two being in 1954. Capital punishment was effectively abolished in practice in 1964, with the statutes being completely removed in 1987. State law allows children as young as ten years to be tried as adults, the lowest age limit currently specified by any of the 50 states.

The Vermont prison system is administered by Vermont Department of Corrections. There are about 2,200 inmates as of May 2007. There are nine prisons in Vermont:

An unusual feature of Vermont Courts is the use of side judges, elected laymen who sit with the judge in certain cases and also serve as county administrators.

Local government

Internally, Vermont consists of nine cities, 254 towns and several unincorporated gores, governed by guidelines set by the state statutes and constitution. Towns govern themselves by Town Meeting. The governing power is found in the City Councils in cities.

There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont, towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns. Villages are included in towns but assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries, usually water, sewage and sometimes local roads. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states.

Like most of New England, there is slight provision for autonomous county government. Counties and county seats are merely convenient repositories for various government services such as County and State Courts, with several elected officers such as a State's Attorney, Sheriff, and High Bailiff. All county services are directly funded by the State of Vermont.

External links

• Official Website