Senate Judiciary hears S 12 authors on shifting Vermont from expungement to sealing of criminal records

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 30 heard more than an hour of testimony on S 12, a bill to replace the current expungement regime with a sealing-based system for criminal records in Vermont.

Tim Leers, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, told the committee that the office is overwhelmed by orders under the current system: “As of April 2024 … between April 2018 and April 2024, there have been 70,225 sealing and expungement orders. In 2023, there was 22,248 orders … and we have 31 administrative staff. So we are completely buried,” he said.

The department and prosecutor-witnesses said the current practice of destroying records after expungement complicates prosecutors’ discovery obligations and can harm victims and defendants. “When those records are expunged and destroyed, we may be aware of the record, but we cannot disclose the record,” said Kim McManus, appearing for the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.

Why it matters: Witnesses framed S 12 as a middle ground that would remove the stigma of older, eligible offenses while preserving a sealed record that…