House adopts conference report on Senate Bill 12 to broaden sealing of criminal records with new disclosure safeguards

The Vermont House of Representatives adopted the committee of conference report on Senate Bill 12, an act relating to sealing criminal history records, during a floor session that considered one bill before adjourning.

The committee of conference changes expand who may petition to have certain felony and misdemeanor records sealed after a statutory waiting period, while adding guardrails — including notice to courts for use in public filings, limits on disclosure outside criminal-justice contexts, civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure, and a statewide model policy for law enforcement access and tracking.

Member from South Burlington, speaking for the committee of conference, described the bill’s purpose as helping individuals who have completed sentences and paid restitution to avoid collateral barriers to housing, employment and education. The member said the conference report adds “protections for keeping those sealed records and sealed information from being used by individuals who shouldn’t use it” and pointed lawmakers to the specific changes in the conference report posted online and furnished as a paper copy on the main table.

Under the conference report, an individual may petition after a specified waiting period to seal eligible felony and misdemeanor records. Sealed records remain accessible to criminal-justice authorities for investigations and prosecutions; state law enforcement and state’s attorneys may use sealed records for criminal-justice purposes. If a sealed record is to be used in court or in a public filing, the court must be given notice and must find the use is relevant and that its probative value outweighs any prejudicial effect.

The report addresses situations outside courtroom filings, such as depositions, by requiring a court order before a sealed record may be disclosed to persons outside the criminal justice agency in those circumstances. The committee also broadened the unauthorized-disclosure provision so that any person who discloses a sealed record without authorization may be subject to a civil penalty; the conference report expands the set of recipients who can be sanctioned if they improperly disclose sealed material.

The conference report also requires a statewide model policy for law enforcement to guide permissible uses of sealed records and to create a way to track who is accessing them.

The committee of conference voted unanimously to recommend adoption of the report. The clerk emailed the conference report to members at 04:52 on the day of the floor session, and a copy was posted on the House overview webpage and made available on the main table.

On the floor, the House first voted to suspend its rules to take up Senate Bill 12 for immediate consideration; that motion carried (exact roll-call numbers were not specified in the transcript). The body then adopted the committee of conference report on its part and immediately moved to message the action to the Senate. Each motion recorded that “the ayes have it”; the transcript does not include a roll-call vote tally.

After sending the message to the Senate, the House adjourned to a date and time announced on the floor: Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 10 a.m.

The bill and the conference report include changes on multiple pages of the report; the member speaking on the floor directed members to page 26 for the first set of changes and referred also to provisions on pages 27, 35 and 38 (page references are to the committee of conference report distributed to members).