Vermont record expungement

In Vermont, any persons excluding sex offenders, who have finished all of their probation and have completed the deferred sentence agreement and are discharged by the court under 33 V.S.A. 7041. are allowed to apply for their record to be expunged. Also, under 33 V.S.A. 5529e, a juvenile who has successfully completed the terms of the juvenile disposition order and has been rehabilitated to the courts liking may have their criminal record expunged.

A juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent or is deemed to be in the need of care or supervision, or a person pleading guilty or convicted of a crime before reaching the age of majority may ask the courts for sealing their record after two years from their final discharge from probation restoring their rights as a normal citizen. They must not have not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice or adjudicated delinquent or in need of care or supervision after such initial adjudication and before the hearing and have no other charges pending seeking such conviction or adjudication. They also must have been rehabilitated to the court's satisfaction.

When criminal proceedings are discharged, you must have paid all the fines and restitution before you can be deemed eligible for expungement. Expungement will be granted as a matter of law and it is not required that you petition the courts, but in the case of juveniles, a petition to the court is necessary for expungement.

In Vermont , unlike a lot of other states, expungement means a total sealing of the records. Upon entry of an order sealing files and records, the proceedings in the matter shall be considered never to have taken place, all index references regarding the conviction and crime will be deleted, and the person, the court, and law enforcement officers and departments will reply to any request for information that no record exists in regards to the person upon inquiry involving any sort of matter. When a record is expunged, the record is not destroyed but removed from all of the public access databases and sealed.

Fingerprints of any juvenile not convicted of a crime or if they were found to be delinquent before they reach age 16 may be expunged. When the expungement is granted it will apply to records, files, and index references related to the expunged court involvement.