Victims' services director urges automatic parole-notification language in H.559
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Summary
Jennifer Pullman, executive director of the Center for Crime Victim Services, told the Senate Institutions committee H.559 should import the automatic-notification language in 28 V.S.A. §507 into 13 V.S.A. §5305 so victims receive parole-hearing information unless they waive it in writing.
Jennifer Pullman, executive director of the Center for Crime Victim Services, urged the Senate Institutions committee on April 2 to amend H.559 so that victim-notification rights in Title 13 mirror the automatic-notification language already in Title 28.
Pullman told the committee she chaired the victim-notification task force created under Act 64 and that the group unanimously recommended copying the language in 28 V.S.A. §507 into 13 V.S.A. §5305. "What stuck out for us is that in Title 28, that's an automatic right to get that information unless a victim has waived that right in writing," she said. By contrast, she said, the Title 13 provision only operates if a victim requests the right.
The recommendation aims to reduce confusion for victims and survivors, Pullman said, noting the long time that can elapse between conviction and parole eligibility and the trauma and shifting release dates that make it difficult for victims to track when to ask for information. "It felt that simply conforming 13 with what is already practiced in 28 would just simply clarify pieces and not send different information or different expectations to victims and survivors," she said.
Committee members asked several practical questions about implementation. Vice Chair Rob Plunkett asked whether the statutes as written impose the notification duty on different agencies. Pullman clarified that, in current practice, notifications are handled by the victim services unit (often by phone) rather than by the parole board, and she said the amendment could specify the Department of Corrections to reflect that practice. "Those notifications ... are handled by the victim services unit," Pullman said.
Pullman also described the task force's membership, which she said included the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, the Vermont Network Against Domestic and [redacted] Violence (name redacted in transcript), the Vermont State Police, the Department of Corrections, two victim survivors, and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. The group also reviewed automated notification systems and recommended training and resources to make notifications trauma-informed.
Chair Wendy Harrison and members asked counsel to draft precise statutory language to copy the four subparagraphs from 28 V.S.A. §507 into the appropriate place in Title 13. The committee did not take a vote on H.559 at the meeting; members requested written draft language and follow-up counsel letters before formal action. "We'd like to be responsive to our constituents," Harrison said, and asked Pullman to stay in touch so counsel could prepare wording the committee would accept.
The committee's next procedural step is for counsel to prepare amendment language and for committee members to review the draft before any formal motion or vote.
