Vermont public-safety officials cite rising violent and property crime; courts report improved clearance but slow case dispositions

At a joint hearing of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Jennifer Morrison, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, told legislators that communities are “tired of repeat offenders harming their communities” and described rising numbers in violent and property crime across the state.

Morrison said Vermont recorded 22 homicide victims in 2024 (compared with 26 in 2023 and 24 in 2022) and that aggravated-assault and theft categories have increased markedly in recent years. “The hot stove rule — the hot stove rules real quick, works real fast because you touch the hot stove once and you learn not to do it again,” Morrison said when arguing for swifter, more certain consequences.

State court administrators and judges briefed the committees on court workload data and reforms intended to shorten time to disposition. The judiciary reported 46,141 incoming trial-court cases and 48,714 outgoing cases for fiscal year 2024, a statewide clearance rate of 105%. Across divisions the criminal division’s clearance rate was reported at about 109% (107% for felonies, 109% for misdemeanors), while the family division’s statewide clearance rate was 97%. The juvenile docket had a reported clearance rate of 109%.

Why it matters: legislators framed the hearing around two linked problems — how crime and repeat offending affect community safety and downtown business vitality, and how long waits for final court action prolong pretrial status and limit the justice system’s ability to impose timely consequences. Morrison and committee members said both data and community perceptions matter: even where Vermont remains relatively safe statewide, local conditions and perceptions are shaping policy requests.

Key data and trends presented - Homicides: 22 victims in 2024; 26 in 2023; 24 in 2022 (Commissioner Morrison). - Aggravated assault: 661 cases in 2018; 969 in 2022; 936 in 2023 (Morrison). - Shoplifting: rose from 1,672 cases in 2018 to 3,388 in 2023 (Morrison). - Court filings and clearance (FY2024): 46,141 incoming trial-court cases; 48,714 outgoing; statewide clearance 105% (state court administrator). - Criminal share of filings: roughly 53% of incoming trial-court filings in FY2024 (state court administrator). - Criminal division results: 12% decrease in pending criminal cases year‑over‑year despite an 8% increase in filings (state court administrator). - Family-division clearance: 97% statewide; juvenile dockets: 109% (state court administrator). - County volumes (incoming filings FY2024): Chittenden ~9,952; Rutland ~5,074; Washington ~4,558; Windham ~4,194; Franklin, Windsor and Bennington >3,000 (state court administrator summary).

Court capacity and new positions Court leaders told the committees that the legislature last session authorized additional judges and support staff and that those hires are expected to affect time-to-disposition as they become operational. Specific items described by the judiciary included: - Four new trial-judge positions entering training and expected to be on the bench February 11, assigned to Chittenden (family and criminal) and Caledonia/Essex family dockets (state court administrator). - A statewide juvenile judge (Judge Howard Kalfas), who the judiciary described as performing a data-driven “deep dive” to identify scheduling fixes, provide backfill for emergencies and coordinate juvenile scheduling across counties. - A dedicated statewide treatment-court judge (Judge Griffin) to oversee compliance with revised national treatment-court standards and to free regular judges from treatment-court duties on their regular dockets. - Ten judicial-assistant positions, five technology positions and 11 security positions intended to reduce administrative burdens on local court staff, improve public access via an information center and limit hearing cancellations when court officers are unavailable (state court administrator).

Court leaders said those staffing and assignment changes helped produce measurable clearance-rate gains in places where additional judges were deployed, but they cautioned that time to final disposition and local priorities vary by county and case type. The judiciary emphasized that jury-trial availability is a pressure point: “When you look at case flow management techniques … having that extra judge there was critical,” the state court administrator said.

Pretrial detention, bail and disposition timing Committee members pressed court leaders and the commissioner about pretrial detention levels and recent statutory changes affecting bail. Witnesses told the committees: - Pretrial detainee counts have risen from a pre-pandemic average the committee cited as about 450 to a recent average reported in the hearing (committee discussion) around 550; Department of Corrections counts given at the hearing were 468 on July 1 and 510 on a recent Tuesday (state court administrator/Q&A). - A statutory change taking effect July 1 removed a prior $200 cap in some bail contexts and returned broader judicial discretion to set bail amounts in particular cases; court leaders said that change appears to have contributed to some increases in pretrial holdings while also giving judges additional tools to mitigate flight risk and manage public-safety concerns.

Judicial and system limits Judges and court administrators repeatedly told the committees that courts are part of a multi‑actor system. They said adding bench capacity helps, but success depends on available prosecutors, public defenders, court staff and appropriate community-based treatment resources. The judiciary noted case types and statutory timelines (for example, incarcerated defendants or time-limited juvenile and abuse hearings) create mandatory scheduling priorities that can limit a single county’s ability to re-order every pending matter.

What the committees will get next Witnesses said the legislature and committees will receive additional briefings, including from the governor’s general counsel, the Department of Public Safety’s policy team (Tucker Jones), the Defender General and state’s attorneys. Court leaders asked legislators to watch outcomes as the newly authorized judges and staff begin operations in February.

Ending Committee members heard both data and community testimony that tied crime trends to court processing times. Court leaders describe measurable progress in clearance rates after targeted staffing and scheduling changes, while the commissioner and members urged attention to ensuring consequences are sufficiently swift and certain to restore public confidence. Committees signaled they will monitor time-to-disposition metrics and pretrial population trends as new judicial resources come online.