Committee reviews draft of S.109 judiciary miscellaneous bill, including firearm-surrender working group and intervener compensation changes

Eric Fitzpatrick, legislative counsel with the Office of Legislative Council, reviewed a new draft of S.109, the annual judiciary miscellaneous bill, at the committee’s April 22 meeting, outlining proposed changes and new provisions that the committee may consider in future weeks.

The draft would: expand which interveners can be compensated by the Victims Compensation Board; modify how stalking orders are served; add a new validation rule for older land-record instruments tied to a missing power of attorney; and create a Firearm Surrender Compliance Working Group led by the attorney general to develop statewide standards for storage and return of firearms surrendered under court orders. Fitzpatrick described those items as part of a suite of amendments intended to update and consolidate provisions in the Judiciary miscellaneous bill.

The intervener provision would clarify when an intervener — someone who attempts to assist a crime victim — can receive compensation from the Victims Compensation Board. Fitzpatrick said the draft would limit compensation for interveners to physical injury but would expand the class of people whose protection, if they were being assisted, qualifies the intervener (for example, from just law enforcement officers to the broader set of "protected professionals" referenced in the assault statute). He noted the committee has previously amended the protected-professional list to add categories such as firefighters and health-care workers.

The draft also proposes removing a provision that would permit service of stalking orders by mail when the defendant was physically present in court at the time the order was issued; Fitzpatrick said that language already appears elsewhere (he identified it as appearing in S.9) and likely does not need to be duplicated in S.109 if the other section is enacted.

On land-records law, Fitzpatrick described a new provision intended to validate instruments recorded in the chain of title when a deed or other document refers to a power of attorney that cannot be found in the records. Existing law validates certain instruments after three years unless the power of attorney was obtained by fraud or forgery. The new provision would apply a similar validation after a longer period when the referenced power of attorney is missing, with language being adjusted so the exclusion applies to an instrument obtained by fraud or forgery rather than to a nonexistent power of attorney.

The draft establishes a Firearm Surrender Compliance Working Group convened by the attorney general to create a uniform process for handling firearms surrendered under various court orders, including relief-from-abuse and emergency-risk-protection orders. The draft names the attorney general as chair and proposes specific memberships and consultees: for example, a police chief appointed by the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police would be a member; the Vermont Council on Domestic Violence and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services were moved from formal membership to consultees. The draft proposes that one firearms industry representative serve on the working group (either a federally licensed firearms dealer, FFL, or a member appointed by the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs) with the other party listed as a required consultee.

Scott Phillips, assistant attorney general, said the attorney general’s office would "advocate for an FFL" on the working group and that the office has contacted FFLs to identify members willing to serve. Committee members discussed whether that member should be appointed by a specific body or by the attorney general's office and asked staff to draft appointment language that provides a clear appointing authority. Members also discussed whether non-governmental members would be eligible for per diem or reimbursement and noted the draft will include compensation language and a meeting-limit provision where appropriate.

Two other study groups in the draft were discussed: a victim-notification-system task force intended to review responsiveness of Vermont’s victim notification system, and an adult involuntary guardianship working group charged with examining whether to consolidate two distinct adult-guardianship procedures or otherwise align statutory protections across them. Fitzpatrick said the victim-notification task force’s membership was being adjusted to add a representative appointed by the Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Victim Services Director of the Vermont State Police; he also noted the draft removes compensation and a six-meeting limit for that task force because it is not expected to include paid members.

Committee members asked staff to follow up with the Department for Children and Families about a reinstated provision the draft would return to statute (a provision concerning certain marital/divorce contexts that had been repealed at DCF’s request last year), and Fitzpatrick said staff would schedule DCF for comment.

Fitzpatrick closed by noting additional technical changes and that the next draft will attempt to reduce color-coded markup once the committee reaches consensus on language. The committee adjourned without taking formal votes and scheduled to reconvene the following day.