Windham County State's Attorney Tracy Kelly Shriver has retired in the middle of her four-year term after 25 years of service.
Shriver - who graduated from Vermont Law School in 1995, became a deputy Windham County prosecutor in 1999, and assumed her most recent position in 2007 - wrote a letter to Gov. Phil Scott last Wednesday reporting she would be stepping down effective this past Sunday, July 28.
"As the years have passed, I have seen lots of changes in our criminal justice system, and many of them have not, in my opinion, been for the better," Shriver wrote in part. "But I have always been very proud of the work I have done to increase offender accountability, to lessen the trauma and suffering of those impacted by crime, and to collaborate with every entity involved in this system."
Word of Shriver's departure was announced Monday, when the state issued a press release and a copy of the prosecutor's retirement letter.
"Kelly Shriver has served Windham County with unwavering integrity, dedication, and a steadfast commitment to upholding the law," John Campbell, executive director of the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, said in the statement.
He said that she "retires from her elected office with a record of outstanding public service and a legacy of pursuing fairness for both defendants and victims of crime."
Officials in the department's local and state offices said Shriver's early departure - her four-year term was set to expire at the end of 2026 - was simply a matter of the prosecutor deciding it was time.
"She has been talking about it for a little while," Annie Noonan, the department's labor relations director, told VTDigger. "It's a really tough job, and our caseloads are staggering. Tracy, in my view, is a pretty humble person, and I just don't think she wanted a lot of big fanfare. There's absolutely no other reason."
Steve Brown, who has served as one of five Windham County deputy state's attorneys since 2007, will act as his office's interim leader pending the governor's review of potential replacements.
"Under State's Attorney Kelly Shriver's leadership," Brown said in a statement, "the office has upheld the utmost prosecutorial standards and professionalism in the ardent pursuit of justice."
Kelly Shriver, who VTDigger couldn't reach for comment, offered a statement in the press release.
"It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Windham County for the past 25 years," the prosecutor said. "I leave with the utmost confidence in the outstanding staff members of the Windham County State's Attorney's Office, who will continue to serve the county with honesty, fairness, and hard work."
This News item by Kevin O'Connor originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.