Judiciary committee approves strike‑all amendment for H566, adds time‑limited pilot for Burlington diversion center

The Judiciary committee approved a strike‑all amendment to H566 after staff presented draft 3.2 and members heard discussion about sealing and diversion. Michelle Childs (Office of Legislative Council) described the latest draft: the initial proposal would have expanded adult diversion eligibility to include municipal ordinance violations statewide, but the committee decided not to broaden statewide authority at this time. Instead, draft 3.2 adds session law to authorize a Burlington pilot that retroactively permits the Attorney General to partner with the Burlington Community Justice Center to divert certain ordinance violations under a limited project.

Childs told the committee the session‑law authorization would run from Jan. 1, 2026 through July 1, 2027 to allow the pilot to operate and for the committee to consider whether to extend or amend statute in future sessions. A member asked a procedural question about effective dates and staff confirmed session law drafting conventions.

After staff presentation, an Unidentified Member (mover) proposed approving the strike‑all amendment (draft 3.2); the motion was seconded and the chair reported H566 "favorable with the strike‑all amendment." During discussion, several members debated sealing versus expungement: one member argued the two concepts are not identical because sealing preserves access for some law‑enforcement uses while expungement removes records in different ways, and another member raised concerns about sealing juvenile records and the juvenile justice implications. Multiple members said the hearing increased their support for limited sealing, while also flagging the need to preserve data for analysis and law‑enforcement use.

The transcript records the chair calling for voices/roll call and many members answering in favor; the chair reported the bill as favorable with the strike‑all amendment. The transcript does not provide a formal numeric tally for the final vote; the committee reported the motion carried and the bill will proceed as favorable with the amendment.