S 27 Vermont Senate · 2023-2024 Regular Session

An act relating to reducing the imposition of cash bail

This bill reduces the use of cash bail in Vermont by prohibiting courts from requiring bail for most misdemeanor offenses at initial court appearances, with limited exceptions for specific serious crimes like domestic assault and child abuse where bail is capped at $200. It also directs the Vermont Sentencing Commission to develop a plan for eliminating cash bail entirely by consulting with community organizations and experts, while establishing an electronic notification system to remind defendants of court dates to reduce missed appearances. The immediate changes take effect on July 1, 2025, with additional reports and recommendations due to the General Assembly by December 2023 and December 2026.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics: Courts Sentencing Violent Crime

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2023

Committee Review

Mar 2023

Senate Passage

Mar 2023

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 24, 2023 Last action Mar 29, 2023

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed By the Senate (Unofficial) → As Passed By the Senate (Official) · 4 edits · Mar 24, 2023

MODERATE

The official Senate-passed version of S.27 differs substantively from the unofficial version in three key ways: (1) the entity responsible for developing a proposal to eliminate cash bail changed from the Vermont Sentencing Commission (with consultation) to a collaborative group of criminal justice stakeholders; (2) a new section was added requiring the Department of Corrections to collect race data on pretrial detainees; and (3) the list of specific offenses eligible for up to $200 bail in Section 1 was removed, making the provision more general. These changes broaden accountability for bail reform research, add a racial equity data requirement, and simplify the bail cap provision.

REQUIREMENT

Section 2 changed from assigning the task of developing a cash bail elimination proposal to the Vermont Sentencing Commission (which would consult with victim organizations, legal aid, ACLU, and others) to requiring the Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Defender General, Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, the Judiciary, Center for Crime Victim Services, and Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence to work collaboratively on the proposal.

New Section 3 requires the Department of Corrections to collect data on the race of pretrial detainees held in Vermont prisons and include that data in detainee reports required by statute or upon request by the General Assembly.

SCOPE

Section 1(b)(2) removed the specific list of offenses (domestic assault, stalking, protection order violations, reckless endangerment, child cruelty, vulnerable adult abuse, and child sexual exploitation) for which courts could impose up to $200 bail, replacing it with a general provision allowing up to $200 bail when the court finds flight risk for any misdemeanor eligible for expungement.

TECHNICAL

Sections were renumbered: Judiciary notices moved from Section 3 to Section 4, and Effective Dates moved from Section 4 to Section 5, to accommodate the new race data section.

As Introduced → As Passed By the Senate (Unofficial) · 4 edits · Mar 24, 2023

MODERATE

The Senate-passed version of S.27 makes three major substantive changes: it narrows the exception allowing bail up to $200 from any expungement-eligible misdemeanor to a specific list of offenses involving violence or vulnerable persons; it replaces the multi-stakeholder collaborative process for developing a cash bail elimination proposal with one led by the Vermont Sentencing Commission that must solicit input from named organizations; and it removes the section requiring the Department of Corrections to collect race data on pretrial detainees.

ELIGIBILITY

The exception allowing a court to impose bail up to $200 was narrowed. The introduced version allowed this for any misdemeanor eligible for expungement under 7601(4)(A) if the court found a flight risk. The Senate version limits it to specific listed offenses: domestic assault, stalking, violation of a protection order, recklessly endangering another person, misdemeanor cruelty to a child, misdemeanor abuse/neglect/exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and misdemeanor sexual exploitation of children.

REQUIREMENT

The process for developing a proposal to eliminate cash bail was restructured. The introduced version required multiple stakeholders (Attorney General, Defender General, State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, Judiciary, Center for Crime Victim Services, and the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence) to work collaboratively. The Senate version assigns primary responsibility to the Vermont Sentencing Commission, which must solicit input from seven designated groups including the Vermont Office of Racial Equity, Vermont Legal Aid, the ACLU Vermont chapter, the Vermont Freedom Fund, and national experts on bail reform.

The section requiring the Department of Corrections to collect race data on pretrial detainees held in Vermont prisons was removed entirely. This had required the data to be included in detainee data reports submitted to the General Assembly.

TECHNICAL

Sections were renumbered due to the removal of the race data section (former Sec. 4 became Sec. 3, former Sec. 5 became Sec. 4), and the effective dates section was updated to reflect the new numbering.

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Full legislative history

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Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 29, 2023

Introduced

Read first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

lower

Mar 23, 2023

Upper · Passed

Recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary agreed to

upper

Mar 23, 2023

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably by Senator Westman for Committee on Appropriations

upper

Mar 23, 2023

Upper · Passed

Read 2nd time, reported favorably with recommendation of amendment by Senator Vyhovsky for Committee on Judiciary

upper

Mar 23, 2023

Upper · Passed

Favorable report by Committee on Appropriations

upper

Mar 23, 2023

Upper · Passed

Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary

upper

Mar 22, 2023

Upper · Passed

Favorable report by Committee on Appropriations

upper

Mar 22, 2023

Upper · Passed

Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary

upper

Mar 21, 2023

Committee

Referred to Committee on Appropriations per Senate Rule 31

upper

Mar 21, 2023

Upper · Passed

Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary

upper

Jan 24, 2023

Introduced

Read 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors