Attorney General's office previews expansion of precharge diversion, highlights data work

Willa Farrell, director of the Community Justice Unit for Diversion and Pretrial Services at the Attorney General's Office, told the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 3 that the office supports about "80 people who are supported through the grants" and roughly "50 full-time equivalent" staff delivering diversion and pretrial services.

Farrell said the office absorbed precharge diversion into its portfolio on July 1 and added a staff position to support rollout. "The SWIFT response is really the common theme that people speak about," she said, describing precharge diversion as valued for speed and victim-focused restorative work. She said staff plan to update manuals by July 1 and to launch statewide trainings and new explanatory materials in partnership with community providers, the Center for Crime Victim Services, states attorneys and the Office of Racial Equity.

Farrell described program functions in plain terms: restorative justice programs provide victim support and offender accountability; pretrial services—distinct from pretrial supervision—offer screenings, court reminders and referrals to behavioral-health or recovery supports. She told committee members that roughly 20% of post-charge diversion cases are driving-with-license-suspended (DLS) referrals, and that diversion's value often lies in helping individuals pay outstanding fines or follow payment plans so they can regain driving privileges.

On data and evaluation, Farrell said the office is working with Scribe Research Group to refine which data points are meaningful and feasible to collect. "Our goal at this point is July 1 to make some changes," she said, noting that the report published in December does not yet include the new precharge data but that next year's report will.

Committee members asked about local implementation in Chittenden County, whether county-by-county variation would complicate statewide reporting, and whether the office could publish referral and eligibility denominators by race. Farrell said some counties already use a common spreadsheet and that the Burlington Community Justice Center currently aggregates data; she cautioned that defining "eligible" cases varies by county policy and that some court-held datasets do not capture race consistently.

The committee heard multiple operational questions about staffing, local funding, and how precharge referrals are routed (via state's attorneys in some counties and directly to Community Justice Centers in others). Farrell acknowledged variation but said the rollout has been "productive and positive" and invited further input from members and local partners.

The presentation closed with members asking the office to provide clearer, consumer-facing explanations of what "sealing" and related record-retention terms mean in practice; Farrell agreed that plain-language guidance from state government would be helpful.