House advances bill to expand and standardize restorative‑justice diversion, create pre‑charge deletion process and new oversight roles

Lawmakers spent extended floor time on H 645, a comprehensive bill to expand and standardize restorative‑justice approaches across Vermont. The bill would create statutory definitions for pre‑charge diversion, designate the Office of the Attorney General as the pre‑charge program administrator and the Department of Corrections as the post‑adjudication administrator, require statewide data collection and reporting, and establish procedures for record deletion after successful pre‑charge diversion.

"H 645 builds on this strong foundation to move Vermont into the next evolution of implementation with a focus on best practice and geographic equity," the member from Essex Junction told colleagues, laying out the bill’s revisions to Title 13 and the juvenile and adult court diversion statutes.

Key provisions include: - Pre‑charge diversion: a referral by law enforcement or a prosecutor when probable cause exists but before criminal charges are filed. County state’s attorneys will draft and publicly post policies identifying qualifying offenses and eligibility criteria. - Records deletion: participants who successfully complete pre‑charge diversion would be eligible for deletion; for juveniles the bill clarifies notice windows and a two‑year deletion process tied to successful completion, and the proposal creates a confidential special index available to authorized persons for repeat‑offender checks. - Administrative roles and positions: the bill creates a diversion program coordinator in the Attorney General’s office and a director of policy in the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs; appropriations language makes these positions subject to funding availability. - Fees and fiscal changes: juvenile participation fees would be removed; adult programs may still collect fees up to $300. Ways & Means and Appropriations committees reported the fiscal impact as de minimis for special funds, subject to implementation details.

Floor interrogations focused on county‑level discretion, victim services capacity, the confidentiality and authorised access to the deletion index, and how the bill aligns adult and juvenile program eligibility. Multiple members urged clarity about who may access the special index; sponsors pointed to language that limits access to authorized persons in the Attorney General’s Office and to provisions allowing the subject of a deleted pre‑charge record to inspect the certified notice.

Sponsor and committee members emphasized the bill does not create a new large program immediately but instead moves fragmented services under a clearer statewide framework, with implementation timing and resources to be refined through appropriations and follow‑up reporting requirements.

What happens next: The House adopted committee amendments, approved floor amendments, and ordered the bill for third reading. Committees and the floor noted required follow‑up on funding, staffing, and the intersection of deletion with discovery obligations.

Why it matters: H 645 would change how Vermont routes eligible cases out of the traditional criminal docket, standardize record deletion for successful pre‑charge diversion, and create statewide data and oversight that supporters and critics said are designed to improve geographic equity and program reliability.

Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 1538–SEG 1680; floor interrogations and amendments recorded SEG 2121–SEG 2810.

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