Vermont victim advocates warn expanding earned‑time credits would deepen harm, call for better notification systems

Montpelier — Witnesses at an Institutions committee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 5, told lawmakers that expanding earned‑time credits or applying them to parolees would cause fresh trauma for victims and that the state’s notification systems and staffing are not prepared to handle any expansion.

The testimony came from Tim Leader Dumont, executive director of the Vermont Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, who brought two county victim advocates and a county state's attorney to explain how victims are notified and how earned‑time calculations affect victims’ expectations. The witnesses described survey results, gaps in the VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) system, and chronic understaffing of victim services.

The witnesses said victims already experience shocks when release dates change and that adding educational credits or extending earned time to parolees would compound that harm. "They have about 600 cases assigned to each of them on average as a sort of a snapshot," Dumont said of the department’s 27 victim advocates, who he said cover more than 23,000 pending court cases statewide. The advocates urged improved notifications, clearer plain‑language notices, and more staffing…