The House Judiciary Committee meets last last month. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
As lawmakers prepare to propose legislation that would broaden Vermont’s expungement policies, representatives from Vermont Legal Aid and the Attorney General’s Office Friday proposed a package of reforms that would allow more Vermonters with criminal histories to clear their records.
Officials are asking legislators to pave the way for those with non-violent misdemeanor and felony offenses to seal and expunge their records years after serving their sentences.
When criminal records are sealed, offenders are no longer legally required to report to employers and landlords that they have been convicted of committing a crime.
The records of the crime, however, are still kept and maintained by the court system until they are expunged.
Under a draft version of the expungement proposal, created by a working group that includes representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, Vermont Legal Aid, and the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, higher level felony charges for drug dealing or embezzlement, for example, could be sealed 10 years after offenders serve their sentences and expunged after 15-20 years.
Misdemeanor charges could be sealed after five years, and expunged after 10.
Lower level felonies and misdemeanors would be eligible for sealing and expungement on a shorter timeline.
Less severe felony charges, such as retail theft, forgery, drug possession, and burglary could be sealed after five years, and expunged at 10.
“What we’ve seen is that these are primarily crimes that are in the course of an active substance use disorder and we see a lot of folks getting into recovery, remaining crime free and yet they still have a felony on their record which locks them out of important opportunities,” Mairead O’Reilly, a staff attorney with Vermont Legal Aid, told the House Judiciary Committee Friday.
Mairead O’Reilly. Photo courtesy Vermont Legal Aid
The most severe felony charges under Vermont statute, including sexual assault, domestic assault, assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon and murder, would not be subject to the expungement policy.
Assistant Attorney General David Scherr, said providing a path for convicted criminals to expunge their records is an issue of “basic fairness.”
He said no one in the criminal justice system intends to give offenders the “life sentence” that comes with having a permanent criminal record.
By removing barriers to employment for those with criminal records, he added his office viewed expungements as an “economic driver.”
“Frankly in a state like Vermont in particular, where there is concern about workforce and availability of qualified workforce, expungements can be a positive economic benefit for businesses as well as the individuals,” he told the House committee.
Rep. Nader Hashim, D-Dummerston, a member of the judiciary committee and a state trooper, said Friday that part of him was concerned about the prospect of giving offenders, particularly those with drug crimes, the ability to expunge their records.
But ultimately, he said, he believes those who have served out their sentences should not be barred from economic opportunity because they have criminal pasts.
“I don’t think that should haunt you if you’ve paid your debt to society,” he said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Lawmakers to consider broad expungement reform.