Susanne Young (née Richardson; born October 30, 1956) is an American lawyer and public official who served as the

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont attorney general is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

from July 5, 2022 to January 5, 2023. Young was appointed to the position by Governor

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman, and Stock car racing, stock car racer who has been the List of governors of Vermont, 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...

following the resignation of

T. J. Donovan Thomas J. "T. J." Donovan Jr. (born January 15, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Vermont Attorney General from 2017 to 2022. He was first elected in 2016 with over 66 percent of the vote. He previously served for ten years ...

and was the first woman to hold the position.

Early life

Born Susanne Richardson in

Northfield, Vermont Northfield is a New England town, town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The town lies in a valley within the Green Mountains and has been home to Norwich University since 1866. It contains the Northfield (CDP), Vermont, village of No ...

on October 30, 1956, the daughter of Elfriede (Hopfner) Richardson and John C. Richardson. She is a 1974 graduate of Northfield High School, and in 1978 she received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. In 1981, Young received her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Vermont Law School Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) is a private law and public policy graduate school in South Royalton, Vermont. It is the only ABA-accredited law school in the state. It offers several degrees, including Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Law ...

, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review. She was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

on December 17, 1981.

Career

During her career, Young held several appointed positions in Vermont's state government under both Democratic and Republican governors, including assistant attorney general (1982–1999), deputy state treasurer when

Jim Douglas James Holley Douglas (born June 21, 1951) is an American politician from the U.S. state, state of Vermont. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served as the List of governors of Vermont, 80th governor of Vermont from 2003 to 2011. ...

served as

Vermont State Treasurer The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing th ...

(August 31, 1999 – January 8, 2003), legal counsel to Douglas when he served as governor (January 9, 2003 – January 4, 2011), and deputy attorney general during

William Sorrell William H. Sorrell (born March 9, 1947) is an American politician. He is the longest-serving attorney general in the history of the U.S. state of Vermont, holding the position for 20 years. Originally appointed by Governor Howard Dean in 1997, ...

's tenure as Vermont's attorney general (November 13, 2012 – January 4, 2017). When Scott became governor on January 5, 2017, he named Young as secretary of the Vermont Agency of Administration, and she served until November 6, 2021, when she retired. In June 2022,

resigned as Vermont Attorney General in order to accept a position at

Roblox Corporation Roblox Corporation ( ) is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California. Founded in 2004 by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, the company is the developer of Roblox, which was released in 2006. , the company employs over 2,400 ...

. Scott appointed Young to complete Donovan's term, which expired in January 2023. When she accepted the appointment, Young indicated she did not intend to run for a full term in the 2022 election. She was succeeded by

Charity Clark Charity Rae Clark (born July 15, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has served as Vermont Attorney General since January 2023. Early life and career C ...

, who won the Democratic nomination and the general election.

Personal life

Young is married to Northfield attorney Peter F. Young. She is the stepmother of two sons and the mother of a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Susanne R. 1956 births Living people People from Northfield, Vermont University of Vermont alumni Vermont attorneys general Vermont Law and Graduate School alumni Vermont lawyers