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Committee agrees to strike disputed affidavit language after prosecutors warn of overnight burden
Summary
At a Judiciary Committee hearing on proposed judicial-rule changes (H.744), deputy prosecutors warned that language requiring overnight charging input could increase detainee holding times and strain already thin staffing; the committee agreed to remove one inaccurate sentence and refer remaining changes to the criminal rules committee.
The Judiciary Committee moved to remove an inaccurate sentence from draft judicial-rule changes after prosecutors told lawmakers the language risked expanding overnight prosecutorial duties and worsening staff fatigue.
Eliza Novick Smith, a deputy state's attorney in Chittenden County, told the panel that requiring prosecutors to make or replicate charging decisions overnight would ‘‘require another person to be woken up in the middle of the night to do work that is going to be started afresh in the morning.’’ She described on-call schedules that carry a $50 per diem and said the current staffing model leaves little "slack in the line" to absorb additional overnight responsibilities.
"The sleep deprivation is a real…
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