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Legislators weigh changing Vermont’s recidivism measure in H.410 amid privacy and sentencing concerns
Summary
Lawmakers and witnesses debated H.410’s proposed recidivism definition, with prosecutors urging a conviction‑to‑conviction measure and public‑defense counsel warning that categorical "recidivism classes" could be misused to limit judicial discretion; researchers urged a clear statutory definition, better labels for DOC data, and targeted studies rather than relying on a single population indicator.
Lawmakers and witnesses at a committee hearing on H.410 on Jan. 14 debated how Vermont should define and report “recidivism,” with prosecutors and researchers urging a clearer, more comparable measure and defense counsel warning that categorical classifications risk becoming de facto sentencing rules.
Kim McNaddis of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs said her office proposed revising the statutory definition and recommended tracking "conviction to conviction," using conviction dates as an anchor so the metric is reproducible across studies. "We suggested tracking from conviction to conviction," McNaddis said, adding that renaming the Department…
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