Officials tell Judiciary committees Chittenden accountability docket cleared cases and linked defendants to treatment; plan county convenings to adapt model

At a joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, judiciary officials, the defender general and Agency of Human Services (AHS) staff described the Chittenden County 3B accountability docket pilot as effective at clearing dockets and connecting justice-involved people to treatment, and outlined plans to convene counties to assess how the model might be adapted elsewhere.

Chief Superior Judge Tom Zona said concentrated judicial time, coordinated services and a “warm handoff” to treatment providers produced tangible improvements: “when you put these intensive services in that community, you can get real benefits,” he told the committee. Zona and other judiciary officials said the model can be adapted to local needs rather than copied exactly from Chittenden County.

Why it matters: Witnesses said the pilot addressed backlog and public-safety concerns while increasing access to treatment for people with substance-use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions. Committee members pressed witnesses on data, scalability and costs as they consider whether to expand the approach in counties with fewer local resources.

Key outcomes and evidence

- Tom Zona told the committee Chittenden’s year-end docket backlog was about 110 and rose to about 169 in January; he said the pilot reduced backlog and cleared cases though long-term recidivism data are not yet…