Karen Carroll (judge)

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Karen Carroll (Karen Russell Carroll) is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2017 to 2025. She was born on February 7, 1963, in Newport, Vermont, and grew up in Proctor. Her family has a long history in law enforcement, with both her grandfather and great-grandfather serving as Burlington’s police chiefs. She finished Proctor High School in 1981, earned a BA from Salve Regina University in 1985 in Criminal Justice and English and French Literature, and earned her JD from Vermont Law School in 1988.

Her early career included roles as deputy state’s attorney for Windham County (1988–1994), Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Vermont (1994–2000), and assistant state attorney general handling prosecutions for the Southern Vermont Drug Task Force (1994–2000). From December 2000 to April 2017, Carroll was a judge on the Vermont Superior Court, serving in Windham, Windsor, and Bennington Counties. She presided over Family, Criminal, and Civil matters and was the first presiding judge of Vermont’s first DUI Treatment Court in Windsor County. She also taught Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law at the Community College of Vermont and worked as an instructor at the Vermont Police Academy.

Carroll was appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court in 2017 and served until her retirement in August 2025. She lives in Vernon, Vermont, with her husband, Richard C. Carroll, a partner at a Brattleboro law firm, and they have three children.