Bill > H0721

Introduced Session

This bill proposes to increase the number of Big 14 offenses that commence in the Criminal Division of the Superior Court rather than the Family Division when committed by a juvenile; repeal the Raise the Age initiative for offenders who are 19 years of age; transfer jurisdiction over youthful offender proceedings from the Family Division to the Criminal Division; require the court to prioritize and expedite motions to transfer juvenile proceedings between the Criminal and Family Divisions; establish procedures for bail revocation and an appeal of a denial of a request to revoke bail; prohibit the court from ordering a sentence that is suspended, deferred, or served as a supervised sentence if a person has a prior conviction for escape or three or more convictions for a felony listed crime unless the court makes findings on the record that there are compelling reasons why such a sentence will serve the interests of justice and protect the public; prohibit the court from suspending a sentence for a person who has previously been found to have violated probation, been unsatisfactorily discharged from H.721 probation, or had furlough revoked unless the court makes findings on the record that there are compelling reasons why such a sentence will serve the interests of justice and protect the public; require the court to make written findings if the court orders a deferred sentence over the objections of the prosecutor; require that criminal history records related to deferred sentences are sealed instead of expunged upon completion of the sentence; prohibit the court from reducing the sentence for a conviction of a listed crime if the defendant has three or more convictions for a listed crime or five or more pending criminal charges; redefine how recidivism is calculated; establish a graduated classification system to track persons who recidivate; establish definitions, calculations, and classification systems to measure persons who commit repeat violent offenses; repeal the statutes providing earned time and midpoint probation review for sentenced offenders; establish a forensic facility for certain criminal justice-involved individuals; require the court, unless contrary to the interests of justice, to dismiss misdemeanor charges against a person who has been found incompetent to stand trial if, after the finding of incompetence, the case remains inactive for a continuous period of time equal to or greater than the maximum sentence for the offense; and limit the applicability of the Vermont Rules of Evidence in proceedings involving competency restoration and granting or revoking conditional release from a forensic facility. H.721

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Tom Burditt (R)*,  Pattie McCoy (R), 

House Committee on Corrections and Institutions Hearing (00:00:00 2/5/2026 ) (on 02/05/2026)

Official Document