Valerie Stanfill confirmed as Maine's next chief justice

Courtesy / Office of Gov. Janet Mills Valerie Stanfill will become the next chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, after Thursday's unanimous confirmation vote by the Maine State Senate.

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By Renee Cordes

Valerie Stanfill will become the next chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, following a unanimous note Thursday by the Maine State Senate.

Besides leading the state's top appellate court, Stanfill will oversee operations within the judicial branch. She will be the second woman to serve in the role after Leigh Saufley, who left the bench last year to become dean of the University of Maine School of Law. Justice Andrew M. Mead has served as acting chief justice since Saufley stepped down.

In a statement issued after Thursday's confirmation vote, Gov. Janet Mills said, “The unanimous vote to confirm Justice Stanfill is a recognition of her sharp intellect, vast legal experience, and commitment to administering justice fairly and impartially.

"I firmly believe that she will be an exceptional Chief Justice and that the Court will benefit considerably from her skills and expertise. I congratulate Justice Stanfill and look forward to swearing her in so she can take the helm of Maine’s Judicial Branch.”

The Senate’s vote on Thursday followed a unanimous vote by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. Stanfill will be sworn this month; details will come later from the governor's office.

Since February 2020, Stanfill has served on the Maine Superior Court presiding over Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties, a position to which Mills also nominated her. Before that, she served on the Maine District Court from January 2007 to February 2020.

Previous experience includes working as acting director of the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic and as a visiting professor at Maine Law. She also spent much of her career in private practice.

She has served as chair of the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence and Protection Orders and as a member of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, and the Maine Domestic Homicide Review Panel. She has also served as a volunteer mock trial coach for Lewiston High School.

Stanfill, 63, graduated magna cum laude from Maine Law and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She lives in Wayne.

Stanfill was the governor's third nomination to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court since taking office.

Associate Justices Catherine Connors and Andrew Horton were nominated by the governor in 2020 and confirmed unanimously by Maine lawmakers.