§ 168. Racial Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Advisory Panel

(a) The Racial Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Advisory Panel is established. The Panel shall be organized and have the duties and responsibilities as provided in this section. The Panel shall be organized within the Office of the Attorney General and shall consult with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, the Vermont chapter of the ACLU, the Vermont Police Association, the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association, the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police, and others.

(b) The Panel shall comprise the following 16 members:

(1) five members, drawn from diverse backgrounds to represent the interests of communities of color throughout the State, who have had experience working to implement racial justice reform, appointed by the Attorney General;

(2) the Executive Director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council or designee;

(3) the Attorney General or designee;

(4) the Defender General or designee;

(5) the Executive Director of the State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs or designee;

(6) the Chief Superior Judge or designee;

(7) the Commissioner of Corrections or designee;

(8) the Commissioner of Public Safety or designee;

(9) the Commissioner for Children and Families or designee;

(10) the Executive Director of Racial Equity or designee; and

(11) two members, drawn from diverse backgrounds to represent the interests of communities of color throughout the State, who have had experience working in information technology or data collection systems, appointed by the Executive Director of Racial Equity.

(c) The members of the Panel appointed under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall serve staggered four-year terms. As terms of currently serving members expire, appointments of successors shall be in accord with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. Appointments of members to fill vacancies or expired terms shall be made by the authority that made the initial appointment to the vacated or expired term. Members of the Panel shall be eligible for reappointment. Members of the Panel shall serve no more than two consecutive terms in any capacity.

(d) Members of the Panel shall elect biennially by majority vote the Chair of the Panel. Members of the Panel who are not State employees or whose participation is not supported through their employment or association shall receive per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 1010, to be provided by the Office of the Attorney General. The Office of the Attorney General shall provide the Panel with administrative and professional support. The Panel may meet up to ten times per year.

(e) A majority of the members of the Panel shall constitute a quorum, and all action shall be taken upon a majority vote of the members present and voting.

(f) The Panel shall review and provide recommendations to address systemic racial disparities in statewide systems of criminal and juvenile justice, including:

(1) continually reviewing the data collected pursuant to 20 V.S.A. § 2366 to measure State progress toward a fair and impartial system of law enforcement;

(2) providing recommendations to the Criminal Justice Council and the Vermont Bar Association, based on the latest social science research and best practices in law enforcement and criminal and juvenile justice, on data collection and model trainings and policies for law enforcement, judges, correctional officers, and attorneys, including prosecutors and public defenders, to recognize and address implicit bias;

(3) providing recommendations to the Criminal Justice Council, based on the latest social science research and best practices in law enforcement, on data collection and a model training and policy on de-escalation and the use of force in the criminal and juvenile justice system;

(4) educating and engaging with communities, businesses, educational institutions, State and local governments, and the general public about the nature and scope of racial discrimination in the criminal and juvenile justice system;

(5) monitoring progress on the recommendations from the 2016 report of the Attorney General’s Working Group on Law Enforcement Community Interactions; and

(6) on or before January 15, 2018, and biennially thereafter, reporting to the General Assembly, and providing as a part of that report recommendations to address systemic implicit bias in Vermont’s criminal and juvenile justice system, including:

(A) how to institute a public complaint process to address perceived implicit bias across all systems of State government;

(B) whether and how to prohibit racial profiling, including implementing any associated penalties; and

(C) whether to expand law enforcement race data collection practices to include data on nontraffic stops by law enforcement. (Added 2017, No. 54, § 1, eff. May 31, 2017; amended 2021, No. 65, § 18, eff. June 7, 2021.)