By Guy Page
A Williston lawyer who secured more Chittenden County Democratic Committee votes for state’s attorney than current SA Sarah George did in 2017 is considering a run for the job this year.
Willliston selectboard member and lawyer Ted Kenney may challenge incumbent Sarah George for Chittenden County State’s Attorney.
After media reports surfaced earlier this week, Vermont Daily Chronicle reached out to Kenney and asked him if he is considering running for state’s attorney. “Yes, I am considering it,” he responded.
According to VT Digger, George was appointed in 2017 to replace departing state’s attorney TJ Donovan, who had recently been elected attorney general. The county committee selected three candidates from whom Phil Scott could choose. He picked the lowest vote-getter: Sarah George, a deputy under Donovan. Kenney finished second in county committee votes to Bram Kranichfeld.
Since her appointment, George has earned a reputation for refusing to jail many arrestees, or release them without bail, leading to citizen complaints of a ‘revolving door’ in which police arrest violent or disruptive people, only to have them out on the street in days or even hours.
According to his Facebook page, Kenney, 57, is a Richmond native who studied law at American University, married in 1999, and is a founding partner of Kenney & Hentchen, a general law practice located in Colchester. He and his wife have two daughters.
Kenney has also served on the town schoolboard and planning commission. He was first elected to the schoolboard in 2006. During his 2019 run for selectboard, he pointed to his success at procuring “funding for mental health professionals to respond with our police officers to handle mental health crises – freeing up police resources while providing a more humane response.”
According to a VT attorneys’ website, Kenney began practicing law in 1991 in his hometown of Richmond. His practice focuses on personal injury, civil litigation, DUI and criminal defense.
He is the former Vice-President of the Vermont Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has also served as Vice-President of the Chittenden County Bar Association. He is still a member of those organizations, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Vermont Association for Justice, formerly known as the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association.
Categories: politics
Would Mr. Kenney be opposing Sarah George in the primary as a democrat or in the general election as something OTD (other than democrat)?
I would vote for him if I lived in Chittenden County, regardless of his party.
How about finding someone to run against “do nothing” Rose Kennedy in Rutland County? They’re not related, I hope.
Both are radical dems. Neither any good!
Ted is a great guy, a phenomenal attorney and someone (unlike Sarah George) I would trust to faithfully execute his oath of office. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.
I hope he does. Sarah George is soft on crime and causing more issues than she’s solving as states attorney.
Sarah Geroge MUST be defeated.
Crime is a cancer in Burlington, due to Geroge’s efforts to
keep violent criminals ON THE STREET!