Attorney general details Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission recommendations, urges study of firearm surrender and statewide lethality assessments

The attorney general told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 5 that the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission's report for 2023 recommends a study of compliance with firearm surrender in relief-from-abuse cases, two regional victim-services positions, explicit court authority to require domestic-violence accountability programming in final relief-from-abuse orders, and statewide use of a lethality-assessment tool.

The report matters, the attorney general said, because domestic-violence–related incidents account for a large share of Vermont homicides and reducing those deaths would lower the state homicide rate. "The existence of a firearm in a home dramatically increases the lethality potential in that domestic violence situation," the attorney general said. She told the committee that the commission's recommendations are intended to provide lawmakers with preworked, cross‑stakeholder proposals. "Virtually every single recommendation that the commission made ... was adopted or made into law" in the 2023 session, she added.

The commission is a legislatively created, 17‑member panel that reviews fatalities that may be related to domestic violence and issues recommendations to the legislature, the judiciary and the governor. The attorney general said the commission examines cases identified from the chief medical examiner's data and that its work is designed to present policymakers with recommendations that have already been vetted across stakeholders including judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, advocates and survivor representatives.

Committee members pressed the presenters on the report's numbers. The attorney general said the commission reviewed 2023 data with a lag because the medical‑examiner's office supplies the records; she said the report drew from "29 fatalities" when discussing the year's cases. Carolyn Hansen, identified in the meeting as an assistant attorney general who has chaired the commission, clarified how the commission counts homicides: "Those numbers of homicides, domestic violence related homicides, we would only count the person who was the the victim of a homicide," Hansen said, adding that the office does track when a perpetrator takes their own life but does not count that death as a homicide. The presenters told the committee there were seven domestic‑violence–related homicides in the year the commission analyzed.

The commission's highlighted recommendations explained to the committee were: - Firearm-surrender compliance study: Create a legislative study or working group to examine compliance with firearm surrender when courts issue relief‑from‑abuse orders and to recommend practical steps to improve enforcement and safe storage practices. The attorney general said such a group should include law enforcement leaders, judiciary representatives, Department of Corrections staff, family‑law practitioners, advocates and prosecutors. - Victim‑services positions: Establish two regional victim‑services positions to ensure survivors (and others affected when a perpetrator dies and no charge is filed) receive connection to supports, particularly in cases such as murder‑suicides where typical victim‑service responses tied to prosecutions are not available. - Court‑ordered accountability programming: Amend statutory authority to make clear that courts may impose domestic‑violence accountability programming as a condition of a final relief‑from‑abuse order. The report cites the statute now codified at 15 V.S.A. § 1103 in relation to this option. - Statewide lethality assessment protocol: Expand and support use of lethality‑assessment screening tools statewide so first responders and investigators can identify high‑risk cases and link victims to local domestic‑violence resources.

Carolyn Hansen also summarized pending and recent legislative activity connected to the commission. She said the House recently passed a bill (identified in committee remarks as H.27) that would expand membership on the commission to add, among others, a state's‑attorney victim advocate, a sheriff, and a representative from the Center for Crime Victim Services; she said the bill would also formalize seats for victim‑services directors at the Department of Corrections and the Vermont State Police and would direct the commission to examine near‑fatal incidents in addition to fatalities.

Committee members asked about implementation and evidence. The attorney general and commission staff emphasized the commission's cross‑stakeholder makeup and urged lawmakers to prioritize the recommendations. "Because it's the commission that has pretty much all of the major stakeholders, it is also effective at getting a group of people to kind of come together and present to you an idea that is somewhat prebaked," the attorney general said.

No formal vote or committee action on the commission's recommendations was recorded during this hearing; presenters said some proposals are expected to be taken up in the coming weeks and invited the committee to request further briefings.

The commission's report and membership list are available to the Legislature; staff said they would provide additional status updates on related pilots and memorandum‑of‑understanding work (for example, a pilot program referenced in White River Junction) on request.