Vermont Statutes Title 20 Sec. 2056a
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 20 Sec. 2056a
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 2056a. Dissemination of criminal history records to criminal justice agencies
(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Criminal history record” means all information documenting an individual’s contact with the criminal justice system, including data regarding identification, arrest or citation, arraignment, judicial disposition, custody, and supervision.
(2) “Criminal justice agencies” means all Vermont courts and other governmental agencies or subunits of governmental agencies that allocate at least 50 percent of the agency’s annual appropriation to criminal justice purposes.
(3) “Criminal justice purposes” means the investigation, apprehension, detention, adjudication, or correction of persons suspected, charged, or convicted of criminal offenses. Criminal justice purposes shall also include criminal identification activities; the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history records; and screening for criminal justice employment.
(4) “The Center” means the Vermont Crime Information Center.
(b) A criminal justice agency may request a person‘s criminal history record from the center for criminal justice purposes or other purposes authorized by State or federal law. Upon the request of a criminal justice agency, the Center shall prepare and release a person’s Vermont criminal history record, provided that the criminal justice agency has filed a user’s agreement with the Center. The user’s agreement shall require the criminal justice agency to comply with all federal and State laws, rules, regulations, and policies regulating the release of criminal history records and the protection of individual privacy. The user’s agreement shall be signed and kept current by the agency.
(c) A criminal justice agency may obtain criminal history records from other states and the Federal Bureau of Investigation through the Center, provided that the criminal justice agency has filed a user’s agreement with the Center. Release of interstate and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records to criminal justice agencies is subject to the rules and regulations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime Information Center.
(d) A criminal history record obtained from the Center shall be admissible evidence in the courts of this State.
(e) No person shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of criminal history record information to any person who would not be eligible to receive the information pursuant to this subchapter.
(f) A person who violates the provisions of this section with respect to unauthorized disclosure of confidential criminal history record information obtained from the Center under the authority of this section shall be fined not more than $5,000.00. Each unauthorized disclosure shall constitute a separate civil violation. (Added 1999, No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; amended 2021, No. 20, § 160.)