Biography

A native and resident of Burlington, Vermont, Attorney General William H. Sorrell graduated from the University of Notre Dame (AB, magna cum laude, 1970) and Cornell Law School (JD, 1974). Bill served as Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney from 1975-1977; Chittenden County State’s Attorney, 1977-78 and 1989-1992; engaged in private law practice at McNeil, Murray & Sorrell, 1978-1989; and served as Vermont’s Secretary of Administration, 1992-1997. As State’s Attorney, he personally successfully prosecuted several significant matters, including the first case allowing the admissibility of DNA evidence in a Vermont State Court and a ten-year-old homicide in which the victim’s body had never been found.

Governor Howard Dean appointed General Sorrell to fill the unexpired term of now Vermont Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy, commencing May 1, 1997. He has enjoyed strong voter support in standing for election in November 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. His current term of office will expire in January 2009.

In June of 2004 Bill became the President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) for a one-year term. Prior to his presidential year, he served as the chair of the NAAG Tobacco Committee and co-chair of its Consumer Protection Committee. In June of 2003 he was chosen by his fellow attorneys general to receive NAAG’s Kelley-Wyman Award, given annually to the “Outstanding Attorney General” who has done the most to further the goals of the nation’s attorneys general.

Bill is on the board of the American Legacy Foundation; has served on Vermont’s Judicial Nominating Board; as president of United Cerebral Palsy of Vermont; secretary of the Vermont Coalition of the Handicapped; and on the board of the Winooski Valley Park District.

Paid for by the Bill Sorrell for Attorney General Campaign