Leaders of the three branches of government joined elected officials and the staff of the VI Judiciary at a naming ceremony for retired presiding Judge Verne A. Hodge. They gathered to witness the dedication of the courthouse in Charlotte Amalie in Hodge’s name.
Several top officials sat on the podium set up in the courtyard of the Alexander Farrelly Justice Complex, along with the honoree; they took turns recalling the acts of justice and compassion he performed during a 23-year career as chief administrator of the territorial — and later Superior Court.
“Judge Hodge’s family is right to be proud of his many accomplishments,” said Chief Supreme Court Justice Rhys Hodge. The chief justice called his former colleague “the architect of the modern Superior Court.”
Accolades also came from Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach, Senate President Milton Potter, Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett, and Port Authority Executive Director Carlton Dowe, among others.
Lawmakers of the 35th Legislature approved Bill No. 35-0286 that allowed the courthouse within the Farrelly complex to be named after Hodge. The ceremony featured musical performances by the Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra and a crime prevention initiative started under Hodge as a juvenile delinquency diversion program.
St. Croix Source
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