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Senate advances major criminal-record sealing overhaul, narrows expungement and defines access rules
Summary
S.12, a comprehensive overhaul of Vermont’s sealing and expungement statutes, was reported at length to the Senate and ordered for third reading after committee votes. The bill shifts most cases toward sealing (rather than full expungement), sets waiting periods, clarifies who may access sealed records and creates a civil penalty for misuse.
The Vermont Senate on March 20 advanced S.12, a comprehensive bill revising state law on sealing and expungement of criminal history records. The Judiciary Committee provided an extended report and the Senate amended and ordered the bill for third reading.
Why it matters
Senator Hachin, reporting for the Judiciary Committee, described the bill as “one of the most important requests” within public-safety legislation and framed the approach as favoring sealing over wholesale destruction of records in most cases, while preserving expungement options in specific circumstances such as deferred sentences, diversion, and offenses that are no longer crimes.
Key changes
- Misdemeanors generally become eligible for sealing or expungement, with enumerated exceptions for serious offenses (including many felonies listed in Title 13 VSA §5301 such as murder, aggravated assault, stalking, human trafficking, and domestic assault). - A set of nonviolent property-related felonies (identified in the bill and originally included in the…
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