Vermont H 566: An act relating to sealing post-charge court diversion records upon successful completion

Bill Text

BILLAS PASSED BY THE HOUSE H.566
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H.566
Introduced by Representative Dolan of EssexJunction
Referred to Committee on
Date:
Subject: Court diversion; sealing post-charge diversion records
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to switch from
expunging post-charge diversion records in adult and juvenile diversion
programs to sealing such records upon successful completion and to expand
the Adult Diversion Program to municipal violations.
An act relating to sealing post-charge court diversion records upon
successful completion
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. 3 V.S.A. § 163 is amended to read:
§ 163. JUVENILE COURT DIVERSION PROGRAM
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(f) Records; deletion and expungement sealing.
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(5) Post-charge diversion records expungement sealing. Within 30 days
after the two-year anniversary of a successful completion of post-charge
diversion, the court shall provide notice to all parties of record of the court’s
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intention to order the expungement sealing of all court files and records, law
enforcement records, fingerprints, and photographs other than entries in the
court diversion program’s centralized filing system applicable to the
proceeding. However, the court shall not order expungement sealing if the
participant does not satisfy each of subdivisions (A)–(C) of this subdivision.
The court shall give the State’s Attorney an opportunity for a hearing to
contest the expungement sealing of the records. The court shall expunge seal
the records if it finds:
(A) two years have elapsed since the successful completion of the
juvenile post-charge diversion program by the participant;
(B) the participant has not been convicted of a subsequent felony or
misdemeanor during the two-year period, and no proceedings are pending
seeking such conviction; and
(C) the participant does not owe restitution related to the case.
(6) Expungement of sealed records. The court may expunge any records
that were sealed pursuant to this subsection prior to July 1, 2018 unless the
State’s Attorney’s office that prosecuted the case objects. Thirty days prior to
expunging a record pursuant to this subdivision, the court shall provide written
notice of its intent to expunge the record to the State’s Attorney’s office that
prosecuted the case. [Repealed.]
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(7) Post-charge diversion case index.
(A) The court and the Office of the Attorney General shall keep a
special indexof post-charge diversion cases that have been expunged sealed
pursuant to this section together with the expungement sealing order. The
indexshall list only the name of the person convicted of the offense, the
person’s date of birth, the docket number, date of case closure, the court of
jurisdiction, and the offense that was the subject of the expungement sealing.
(B) The special indexand related documents specified in subdivision
(A) of this subdivision (7) shall be confidential and shall be physically and
electronically segregated in a manner that ensures confidentiality and that
limits access to authorized persons.
(C) Inspection of the expungement sealing order and the certificate
may be permitted only upon petition by the person who is the subject of the
case. The Chief Superior Judge may permit special access to the indexand the
documents for research purposes pursuant to the rules for public access to
court records.
(D) The Court Administrator shall establish policies for
implementing subdivisions (5)–(9) of this subsection (f).
(8) Effect of expungement sealing. Except as otherwise provided in this
section, upon the entry of an order expunging sealing files and records under
this section, the proceedings in the matter shall be considered never to have
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occurred; all indexreferences thereto shall be deleted; and the participant, the
court, law enforcement officers and departments, prosecutors, the referring
entity, and the diversion program shall reply to any request for information
that no record exists with respect to such participant inquiry in any matter.
Copies of the order shall be sent to each agency, entity, or official named
therein.
(9) Expungement Sealing applicability. The process of automatically
expunging sealing records as provided in this section shall only apply to those
persons who completed diversion on or after July 1, 2002 2026. Any person
who completed diversion prior to July 1, 2002 must apply to the court to have
the person’s records expunged. Expungement Sealing shall occur if the
requirements of subdivisions (5)–(8) of this subsection (f) are met.
* * *
Sec. 2. 3 V.S.A. § 164 is amended to read:
§ 164. ADULT COURT DIVERSION PROGRAM
(a) Purpose.
(1) The At