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Committee weighs pilot to fund outside counsel, expands parole‑board training and budget review
Summary
The House Corrections & Institutions Committee discussed a proposed pilot to use a $25,000 FY26 appropriation to contract outside legal counsel for training and limited advice to the Vermont Parole Board, debated whether the amount should rise to $50,000, and directed staff to draft language and a report‑back process on budgeting and board structure.
The House Corrections & Institutions Committee spent the first part of its Feb. 18 meeting focused on outstanding parole board issues, chiefly how the board gets legal advice and how its budget is routed.
Mary Jane Ainsworth, director of the Vermont Parole Board, told the committee that "there is currently a $25,000 appropriation for legal services for the board in the current FY26 budget" but that the funding "has been removed for the FY27 budget." She said the intent is to use those funds for a pilot year to hire external legal counsel to provide training and legal advice to the board.
Committee members pressed on whether outside counsel would attend revocation hearings. Ainsworth said she "doesn't think it's necessary for the board to have legal counsel at the revocation hearings" and argued that "if…
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