H 566 Vermont House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

An act relating to sealing post-charge court diversion records upon successful completion

H 566 (Vermont) changes how court diversion records are handled for people who successfully complete adult or juvenile diversion programs. Instead of automatically expunging (erasing) these records, the bill requires courts to seal (confidentially restrict access to) records 30 days after the two-year anniversary of program completion, provided the participant has no new convictions, owes no restitution, and meets other specified conditions. The bill also expands the Adult Diversion Program to include municipal violations, such as traffic offenses. This policy change directly affects individuals who complete diversion programs by making their records confidential after meeting the requirements, improving access to opportunities like housing or employment that might otherwise be denied due to past records.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 6, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed By the House (UnofficialOpens in a new window) → As Passed By the House (OfficialOpens in a new window) · 3 edits · Feb 26, 2026

MINOR

The official version of H.566 makes two substantive changes from the unofficial version: it explicitly adds 'municipal ordinance' to the adult diversion program's stated purpose in Section 2(a)(2), and it updates subsection (6) of the adult section to use 'expungement sealing' terminology consistent with the juvenile section. The remaining differences are formatting, header changes, and the inclusion of the full clean bill text at the end of the official version.

SCOPE

Section 2(a)(2) now explicitly includes 'municipal ordinance' alongside 'criminal statute' in the adult diversion program's purpose statement, clarifying that the program is designed to cover municipal ordinance violations. This supports the Burlington Community Justice Center pilot in Section 3.

TECHNICAL

Section 2(f)(6) (adult section) was retitled from 'Expungement of sealed records' to 'Expungement Sealing of sealed records' and the operative language changed from 'expunge' to 'expunge seal,' harmonizing the terminology with the juvenile diversion section which already used 'expungement sealing' language.

The 'Statement of purpose of bill as introduced' paragraph was removed from the official version, along with the 'Introduced by' and 'Referred to Committee' lines that appeared in the unofficial version.

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Full legislative history

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Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Read 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report of Committee on Judiciary agreed to

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Rep. Masland of Thetford recommended for the Committee on Ways and Means

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Rep. Oliver of Sheldon reported for the Committee on Judiciary

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced

Action Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Introduced

Notice Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Ways and Means per Rule 35(a)

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Introduced

Notice Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

lower

Jan 6, 2026

Introduced

Read first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors