Vermont County Map: All 14 Counties

Under Chapter II, Section 43 of the 1793 Vermont Constitution, each county elects two Assistant Judges, commonly known as "Side Judges." Historically non-lawyer lay citizens, Side Judges sit on the bench with the state-appointed professional presiding judge in family court and civil disputes.

Outside the courtroom, the two Assistant Judges serve as the county's executive administrators. They prepare the annual county budget, maintain the historic county courthouse and county sheriff department headquarters, and assess a modest county tax on member towns based on property grand lists.

Each county seat is referred to as the "shire town," preserving eighteenth-century English terminology. Aside from the Side Judges, elected county constitutional officers include the High Sheriff, State's Attorney, and Judge of Probate.

On the first Tuesday in March ("Town Meeting Day"), voters in all 246 Vermont cities and towns assemble to debate municipal budgets line by line, vote on local school spending, and elect town Selectboards. Because towns deliver local road plowing, fire protection, and zoning, county government remains unobtrusive.

Geographically, the state is anchored in Chittenden County (Burlington), home to the University of Vermont, major healthcare centers, and advanced manufacturing.

In northeastern Vermont lies the "Northeast Kingdom," comprising Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties. Named by Senator George Aiken in 1949, this remote region features maple syrup sugarbushes, dairy farms, and vast boreal forests. Essex County holds just 5,900 residents across 665 square miles, featuring unincorporated townships like Ferdinand and Averill governed directly by a state-appointed supervisor.