Meetings
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[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Will the senate please come to order? We will observe a moment of silence in lieu of a devotional. Thank you. Are there any announcements? Seeing none, we have a referral. We have h five nineteen being on the calendar for notice and carrying an appropriation under rule 31 is referred to the committee on appropriations.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Orders of the day.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: We have h five forty nine for third reading. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none, please listen to the third reading.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H five forty nine, an act relating to eligibility of sentence or detained individuals to obtain a state issued non driver identification card, replacement operator's license, or replacement learner's permit.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the bill pass in concurrence? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye.
[Senator Nader Hashim (Windham District)]: Aye. All
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we have passed h five forty nine in concurrence. We now have h nine seventeen. Are there any amendments prior to third reading? Seeing none listen to the third reading.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H nine seventeen an act relating to military affairs.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Question is shall the bill pass in concurrence? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it, and we have passed h nine seventeen in concurrence. We have on the calendar for action h four ten, which was passed by the house 04/10/2026. It was referred to the committee on judiciary, which reports it is considered the bill and recommends that the senate propose to the house that the bill be amended as it appears starting on page thirteen thirty eight of today's calendar, and that with such proposal of amendment, the bill ought to pass. Affecting the expenditures of the state, the bill was referred to the committee on appropriations, which recommends that the bill ought to pass in concurrence with the proposal of amendment as recommended by the committee on judiciary. Listen to the second reading of the bill.
[John H. Bloomer Jr. (Secretary of the Senate)]: H four ten, an act relating to the calculation of recidivism and other criminology measures.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: I recognize the senator from Franklin District for the report of the committee on judiciary.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. H four ten, an act relating to the calculation of recidivism and other criminology measures. One may ask, why do we need this, and what do we do with this? Collection of criminal justice data provides lawmakers with a snapshot of how state's criminal justice system is functioning to help them make evidence based decisions regarding policy changes, resource allocations, identification of racial or systematic disparities, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs, which we use quite frequently in the senate judiciary. Collection of recidivism data helps lawmakers understand how often individuals reoffend and guides evidence based reforms in sentencing probation parole to lower recidivism. Researchers typically use a three to five year window because that balance is comparable comparable to policy relevance relevance. Most reoffending occurs within the first few years after release on a three year measure, captures most of the cases and aligns with the common reporting standards, Bureau of Justice Statistics. A five year window provides a longer term view to assess whether effects persist over time, longer follow-up periods over five years add complexity and data limitations while offering diminishing additional insights. Onto the bill. Section one. This section creates a new chapter within the crimes and criminal procedures titled regarding criminology measures. The intention is to aggregate provisions related to tracking criminology data in one place for the purpose of informing policymakers when considering criminal justice proposals. Eighty one twenty one definition. This section adopts a new definition of recidivism. There is a current definition regarding the calculation of recidivism in title 28, but this definition was adopted years ago has not proven to be of any value, and the bill repealed that definition in section two. The new definition is much simpler. It means a relapse in the criminal activity as evidenced by an individual who's convicted of a criminal offense after receiving criminal criminal convictions for previous crime. Recidivism will be measured from the date an individual is released from incarceration or sentenced to a non incarcerative sentence for the first conviction to the date of arraignment for his or her second conviction. Vermont Statistical Analysis Center annual reports. This section requires annual reports on criminal data from the Vermont Statistical Analysis Center to committees on jurisdiction. A statistical analysis center, SAC, is a state level agency or unit dedicated to collecting and analyzing and reporting data on crime and justice. These centers provide objective, policy relevant research to help government officials make informed evidence based decisions regarding the criminal justice system. The crime research group, whom we're we're rely upon quite often, serves as Vermont SAC. It actually contracts Department of Public Safety. It's a nonprofit organization here in the city of Montpelier. Section a, there are five annual reports that are going be required. First is on the fail rates. Second is on recidivism. The third is on arrest and clearance rates. Aggregated information regarding the 20 crimes with the highest number of convictions in the state, and the length of time for all sentences of incarceration and probation for the 20 crimes with the highest number of convictions. Subsection b requires the inner reports to contain demographic data when available. Subsection c requires all entities that have data essential to compiling the report to share data with the SAC. Section two repeals the current calculation of recidivism in the corrections title. Section three, this is a section for the technical amendment striking a reference to the repealed definition from section two. In section four, the Vermont Statistical Analysis Center appropriations of approximately $25,000 to the Department of Public Safety for contracting with SAC for the annual reports. The effective date is 07/01/2026 of this year, and there's a small amendment under h 14. If adopted, the fourth sentence in eighty one twenty one would read, the recidivism here's the new word. Calculation shall begin on the day an individual is released from incarceration or the date when an individual is sentenced to a noncustodial sentence. Your senate judiciary heard from team lead, legislative council, office of legislative council, and executive director from the crime research group. The vote out of committee was five zero zero, and we ask for this senate support. Thank you, mister president.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Franklin did such a nice job. I would like to recognize the senator from Franklin for the report of the committee on appropriations.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. H four ten went through your senate appropriations committee, and we deemed this to be de minimis. And looking at the size of our budget, it's $25,000. And so we voted to support the bill, and it came out of committee on a seven zero zero vote, and we ask for your support. Thank you.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The question is, shall the senate propose to the house to amend the bill as recommended by the committee on judiciary? Are you ready for the question? Senator from Windham.
[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham District)]: Thank you, mister president. May I interrogate the reporter of the bill?
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: The reporter is interrogated.
[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham District)]: Thank you. I appreciate the the committee's work on this, and recidivism is also important when you're looking at, corrections facilities. And I believe that the existing number is in the forties, and I'm curious to know if the committee looked at what the recidivism rate is under the existing calculation and what it would be under the new calculation.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you. Thanks, Sandra, for the question, mister president. We did not look at that. We're, obviously pushing this forward, hoping that the CRG will come back with those results for us at a later date.
[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham District)]: Okay. Thank you.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are you ready for the question? The question is, shall the senate propose to the house to amend the bill as recommended by the committee on judiciary? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. And you've proposed to the house to amend the bill as proposed by the committee on judiciary. The question now is, shall the bill be read a third time? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. You've ordered third reading of h four ten. Okay. So s one eighty one was passed by the house with a proposal of amendment. The question is, shall the senate concur with the house proposal of amendment? Senator from Windham.
[Senator Nader Hashim (Windham District)]: Thank you, mister president. We received the house proposal of amendment and, reviewed it this morning with legislative council. They made a very small clarifying change, on which is located on page thirteen thirty nine of today's calendar. Senators may remember this was a bill related to, deferred sentences and pre sentence investigation reports. The purpose of one eighty one was to eliminate one unnecessary redundancy and what the house or what the other body added was to clarify that if an offense is not a listed crime as provided in subdivision 5,301 which is the list of crimes of this title the court may at its discretion order a pre sentence investigation. This is something that is already covered in Title 28 BSA two zero four, and I believe the rules of criminal procedure, rule 32. So in some irony, we're having another redundancy by accepting this amendment, but it does it does make it clear and directly in the statute. So senate judiciary unanimously agreed to support the house or the other body's amendment, and we ask for the senate support.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windham has moved that the senate concur in the house proposal of amendment. Are you ready for the question? Is that not quite accurate? Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. Let me get that back. That completes the orders of the day. Senator from Chittenden.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. I move that the senate stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 04/17/2026.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Are there any further announcements? Senator from Washington.
[Senator Ann Cummings (Washington District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate finance will meet at 01:30.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Washington.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senator appropriation will also meet at 01:30.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Rutland.
[Senator Randy Brock (Franklin District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senator government operations will meet at 01:50.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Windham.
[Senator Wendy Harrison (Windham District)]: Thank you, mister president. Senate institutions will meet at 01:30.
[Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (President of the Senate)]: Senator from Bennington. Mister president, the center of education can meet at 01:30. Are there any further announcements? Seeing none, the senator from Chittenden Central has moved that the senate stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 04/17/2026. Are you ready for the question? If so, all in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment until 11:30AM, Friday, 04/17/2020