The Vermont Judiciary announced today it will not conduct any nonemergency in-person hearings or proceedings during the four days after Thanksgiving, over the week after the Christmas break, or for the four days after New Year’s. Judiciary employees will continue to work and conduct remote proceedings on those days.

The Vermont Judiciary recently contracted with Erin Bromage, Ph.D to consult with the Judiciary in the development of court-related health and safety strategies that can be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Bromage is a professor of comparative immunology and biology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and a recognized expert on reducing personal risk for contracting COVID-19. This scheduling action is being taken to minimize the risk of the spread of infection following these period when individuals might gather, and on the basis of Dr. Bromage’s advice.

Emergency hearings requiring in-person proceedings may still be conducted during these periods. All other hearings already scheduled to be in-person on those dates will be reviewed by the respective judge and will either be conducted remotely or rescheduled.