Judiciary Committee

The House Committee on Judiciary considers matters relating to civil rights and civil liberties, the criminal and civil justice systems, violence prevention and public safety, and other similar policies.

H.849/Act 87 (An act relating to a civil action for damages for deprivation of federal constitutional rights by any government official) creates a legal claim for damages against a state, local, or federal official who violates the U.S. Constitution. Under the law, any resident of the State of Vermont, or any other person within the jurisdiction of Vermont, could sue to allege a constitutional violation. They could bring such a suit against a person acting in an official capacity if that person deprives someone in Vermont of any of their federal constitutional rights or if they cause someone in Vermont to be deprived of those rights. For example, under this law, individuals could bring claims for violations of the Fourth Amendment related to unreasonable searches and seizures. Such claims could cover police brutality, excessive force during arrest, false arrest, and unlawful searches of homes or property. Claims may arise under the First Amendment if government officials attempt to suppress the right to free speech or the right to peaceably assemble. Claims could arise under the Fourteenth Amendment for violations of due process or equal protection. These violations could involve deprivation of life, liberty, or property without proper legal procedures. The bill passed the House and Senate. The Governor allowed this bill to become law on 27 April 2026 without his signature.

S.209/Act 150 (An act relating to prohibiting civil arrest in sensitive locations) expands protections against civil arrests without a judicial warrant in sensitive locations across Vermont. Existing law protects individuals attending or traveling to and from court proceedings. Act 150 broadens those protections to include individuals accessing educational institutions as well as those present at designated sensitive locations such as healthcare facilities, polling places, and government buildings. The bill addresses concerns related to civil immigration enforcement actions conducted pursuant to administrative warrants (versus judicial warrants) and seeks to ensure that individuals can safely access essential public institutions and services without fear of warrantless civil arrest.The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 16 June 2026.

S.193/Act 147 (An act relating to establishing a forensic facility for certain criminal justice-involved persons) directs the Vermont Agency of Human Services to establish a plan to develop a secure forensic treatment facility for certain justice-involved individuals with significant mental health or cognitive disabilities. The bill will address longstanding gaps in Vermont’s behavioral health infrastructure by creating a plan to develop a therapeutic, secure setting designed to provide competency restoration, stabilization, treatment, and care while also maintaining appropriate public safety measures. The facility is intended to better serve individuals whose needs are not appropriately met in correctional settings alone, while improving outcomes for both affected individuals, victims of crime, and the broader community. Act 147 also provides an interim competency restoration and forensic program to work with individuals currently in our system who are in need of this specific treatment while the facility plan is developed. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 16 June 2026.

H.626/ Act 89 (An act relating to sexual extortion, voyeurism, and disclosure of sexually explicit images without consent) modernizes Vermont’s laws addressing image-based abuse and digital exploitation, in part by expanding the statute of limitations for some cases, and by recognizing that not all harm from such crimes is physical. These updates follow a Vermont Supreme Court decision that highlighted limitations in existing law related to nonconsensual recording in private spaces.  Act 89 also creates a new criminal offense prohibiting sexual extortion, or “sextortion,” a form of online exploitation that disproportionately impacts young people. Together, these reforms strengthen accountability for digital forms of abuse and provide clearer legal protections and recourse for victims. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 28 April 2026.

H.578/Act 118 (An act relating to penalties and procedures for animal cruelty offenses) provides for comprehensive reforms to Vermont’s animal cruelty statutes and procedures. The law expands and modernizes the definition of animal cruelty, updates criminal penalties to better reflect the seriousness of abuse, and reworks the civil animal forfeiture procedures to improve protections for animals at risk of harm. The bill also streamlines the process for removing abused animals from dangerous conditions while helping reduce the financial and logistical burdens placed on shelters, humane organizations, and volunteers assisting with animal protection efforts – something that is currently a significant issue in Vermont. The bill passed the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor on 8 June 2026.