Victim urges passage of S.193 to create Vermont forensic facility; racial-equity analyst warns against housing it inside prisons

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on April 15, 2025, Emily Perry, who identified herself as a victim-survivor, urged lawmakers to adopt S.193 to create a Vermont forensic facility for defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). Perry told the committee the lack of a state placement option left her family and community vulnerable when prosecutors accepted an NGRI plea in her sister’s murder case.

"My sister was murdered on May 3rd, 2021," Perry said. She recounted that, after the state's attorney agreed to an NGRI finding for her father, "there was nowhere in the law of where to send my father after his NGR findings," and that the initial plan called for returning him to the childhood home where the murder occurred. Perry said the absence of a secure, therapeutic placement forced her family to fight to find acceptable alternatives and to push for notice and participation in proceedings.

Perry described the emotional and practical consequences of late notice and limited opportunity to provide input, saying victims need timely rights to be heard and notifications about significant changes to an individual's status so they can make safety plans. She supported S.193 as "the first step" toward building a facility that could restore competency, provide therapeutic care, and keep families safer while urging the committee to preserve and strengthen victims' rights provisions in the bill.

Laura Carter, an analyst in the Division of Racial Justice Statistics at the Office of Racial Equity, acknowledged the gap Perry described but argued the committee must decide whether the state wants a public-safety model or a health-care model. "Prisons and jails are not therapeutic settings," Carter said, warning that housing a forensic unit under the Department of Corrections (DOC) risks exacerbating mental-health harms rather than treating them.

Carter raised several practical concerns: DOC's existing overcrowding and budget, a reliance on private contractors such as Wellpath, recent deaths reported in correctional facilities, and data showing people of color are overrepresented in custody. She said draft language in the bill could leave some people—those who never regain competency—effectively "warehoused" without clear exit ramps.

Committee members pressed both witnesses on specifics. The chair asked whether the bill’s petition cadence and judicial standard (clear and convincing evidence) and a commissioner-monitored release order would address safety concerns; Perry said a state facility and active monitoring would have made a substantial difference in her family’s case. Other members debated whether a separate wing in an existing correctional facility could be sufficiently therapeutic given overcrowding and institutional culture.

The hearing closed with the committee noting the bill text was still being revised and that Commissioner Miad of DOC was expected to testify later in the session. The committee also scheduled a brief review of an unrelated amendment (S.28) later in the morning.

The committee did not take a vote during the portion of the hearing in this transcript. Further proceedings and amended bill language were expected in subsequent sessions.