Barre court honors retiring manager
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By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: October 3, 2009
BARRE – Carolyn Hutchinson went out on top.
The Barre resident spent 25 years working at two different district court buildings in Barre – she was district court manager for the last 20 — and a total of 31 years working in the Vermont judiciary before retiring recently.
But just before riding off into the sunset, Hutchinson, other courthouse staff, a judge and local attorneys were honored by the court administrator's office for making the wheels of justice in Washington County moved swiftly.
The Washington County District Court received the annual "Rehnquist Bobblehead Award" this year for reducing the backlog of pending cases by 25 percent. Significantly, the court also reduced the backlog of cases that were over six months old by 42 percent, according to the court administrator's office. The clearance rate for felonies was also the highest in the state.
That's important in a society in which the right to a speedy trial is at the foundation of the legal system.
"You don't want an old case just hanging out and lingering," said Paula Tremblay, who is the acting district court manager in Barre now that Hutchinson is retired. "It's not fair to the defendant."
The award is named the Rehnquist Bobblehead Award because former Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy donated a bobblehead doll of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist to accompany the award.
Tremblay said slashing the backlog of cases took a "lot of hard work, not just by staff here, but by the judge, the state's attorney and by defense attorneys."
Tremblay pointed out that Hutchinson was manager when the court received the award, and described her as a dedicated, hard worker.
"She did get the job done and would often be here until 5:30 or later. I've known her to work on weekends," Tremblay said.
Hutchinson described managing cases as a juggling act and said a key part of the court staff's role is to figure out which are the oldest cases and make sure they go before the judge.
A lot of big cases contributed to the court's backlog, she said, including the James Saunders murder, which involved seven defendants, and the drug sweep known as Operation Granite Streets that involved more than 25 defendants.
Those bigger cases take up a lot of the court's time, she said.
"They were cases that involved an awful lot of depositions and investigations and that sort of thing," she said.
Hutchinson also credited Judge Brian Grearson, who has presided in Barre since September 2008, for helping move cases through the system.
"Judge Grearson is great," she said. "He spends a lot of time with the attorneys. He's done a great job over the last year. He deserves an awful lot of credit for addressing that backlog."
Hutchinson said she is enjoying retirement but will miss the people she has worked with over the years.
"The people that I worked with, they're wonderful people," she said. "They're very dedicated, and they're great people."
What will Hutchinson do in her retirement?
"Anything I want, whenever I want," she said.
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