Essex County
6,051 people, served by 3 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Essex County follows Vermont law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.
- Who decides release first
After an arrest, the officer must call a judicial officer, a Superior Court judge or a court clerk, to set temporary release. For charges carrying less than two years, a person the Court Administrator designates may also set bail.
13 V.S.A. 7554(f) and 7559a- Time to see a judge
The rules say an arrested person must be brought before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay, and set no hour limit. The U.S. Supreme Court's 48-hour rule for a probable cause finding applies as the federal floor.
V.R.Cr.P. 3(k)- Money bail
Money bail is allowed. Since 2018, a court may not set bail at first appearance for a cited misdemeanor, and may set at most $200 for a misdemeanor eligible for expungement.
13 V.S.A. 7551(b)- Courts
Vermont has one trial court, the Superior Court, with a unit in each county. Its criminal division hears all crimes, felonies and misdemeanors alike. The Judicial Bureau hears civil violations, not crimes.
Vermont Judiciary, About the Vermont Judiciary- Judges and magistrates
The governor appoints judges, and the state Senate confirms them, for six-year terms. At the end of each term, the General Assembly votes on whether the judge stays.
Vt. Const. ch. II, s. 32 and 34
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The state constitution says state's attorney districts are set by law; that each county is one district was not read in the statute. Whether clerks or designees who set bail must be lawyers was not confirmed.
What this county does differently
- Pretrial practice
Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as the Ohio Risk Assessment System Pretrial Assessment Tool (ORAS-PAT).
MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.
Cities and towns
- Lunenburg town1,267
- Brighton town1,167
- Concord town1,145
- Canaan town810
- Guildhall town371
- Maidstone town241
- Bloomfield town234
- East Haven town225
- Brunswick town109
- Lemington town108
- Norton town108
- Granby town67
- Victory town53
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Essex County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Essex County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police6,018 served
- No name VT0050500City police department1,281 served
- No name VT0050300City police department896 served
Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.
Crime
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Per 100k | Vermont |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 4 | 4 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 210 | |
| Murder | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 2.7 | |||
| Rape | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 41 | ||
| Robbery | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 13 | ||
| Aggravated assault | 2 | 4 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 153 | |
| Property crime | 22 | 5 | 4 | 152 | 1,637 |
| Burglary | 4 | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 161 | |
| Larceny | 15 | 3 | 3 | 103 | 1,388 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 3 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 88 | |
| Arson | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 6.8 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Per 100k | Vermont |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 18 | 2 | 3 | 113 | 1,455 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 3 | 3 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 415 | |
| Vandalism | 7 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 461 | ||
| Fraud | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 236 | ||
| Drug abuse violations | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 186 | ||
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 16 | ||
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 37 | ||
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 40 | ||
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 1 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 15 | |
| Other Group A offenses | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 38 |
Offenses agencies in Essex County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2023 added together, beside Vermont's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Vermont: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.