Senate Judiciary begins review of S.12 overhaul of sealing and expungement rules

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 20 began a multiweek review of S.12, a bill that would remake Vermont’s process for removing or restricting access to criminal history records.

Michelle Childs of the Office of Legislative Counsel gave the committee an early walkthrough of the draft, explaining that the proposal largely converts a prior expungement regime into a system centered on "sealing" records and defines which offenses qualify for sealing and under what timetable. "Expungement meaning that, basically the record is gone," Childs told the committee. "If a record is sealed, then it still exists somewhere, and then depending on the law and the different areas of law, there can be access to that sealed record for certain purposes."

The bill draws two different eligibility pathways. One covers offenses that are no longer crimes (for example, prior convictions for conduct the Legislature has since decriminalized). The other covers qualifying offenses defined in the bill: generally misdemeanors are eligible unless specifically excluded, while only a limited set of lower-level felonies would be eligible. Childs said the draft treats "qualifying crimes" as those at or below two years of potential incarceration (misdemeanors) except those…