House passes H.645 to expand restorative justice diversion; members debate access to expunged records

The House passed H.645, an act expanding approaches to restorative justice and diversion, after members clarified how access to a special index of expunged or deleted records is governed and debated the practical effects of restricted access.

During third reading, the Member from Essex Junction explained that the court in the community justice unit of the attorney general's office maintains the special index of expunged or deleted records and grants access as allowed by statute. The member said the bill provides access to the person who is the subject of the expunged or deleted record and allows the chief superior judge to grant access for research purposes, and explicitly stated that "State's attorneys and law enforcement do not have access to the special index." The member noted differences between juvenile and adult diversion language and described existing provisions for post-charge referrals and Tamarac opportunities for adult diversion.

The Member for Northfield thanked the member for the clarification but expressed concern that restricting access to the retained file could make it difficult to verify whether an individual has prior offenses if records have been expunged, saying the program is appropriate for first offenses but not necessarily for repeat offenses. After the floor exchange the presiding officer took a voice vote; the presiding officer announced the ayes had it and the bill passed.

The transcript records the substantive floor clarifications about eligibility and access but does not include a roll-call tally. No floor amendments were recorded during third reading in the provided transcript.