| 1 | 1 | | BILL AS INTRODUCED H.221 |
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| 2 | 2 | | 2025 Page 1 of 5 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | VT LEG #380492 v.1 |
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| 6 | 6 | | H.221 1 |
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| 7 | 7 | | Introduced by Representatives Arsenault of Williston, Christie of Hartford, 2 |
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| 8 | 8 | | LaLonde of South Burlington, and Rachelson of Burlington 3 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Referred to Committee on 4 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Date: 5 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Subject: Crimes and criminal procedure; domestic relations; abuse prevention 6 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish a 7 |
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| 13 | 13 | | temporary working group to develop a uniform process to ensure compliance 8 |
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| 14 | 14 | | with court orders to surrender firearms and report its recommendations to the 9 |
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| 15 | 15 | | General Assembly. 10 |
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| 16 | 16 | | An act relating to the Firearm Surrender Order Compliance Working Group 11 |
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| 17 | 17 | | It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 12 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Sec. 1. FIREARM SURRENDER ORDER COMPLIANCE WORKING 13 |
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| 19 | 19 | | GROUP; REPORT 14 |
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| 20 | 20 | | (a) Creation. There is created the Firearm Surrender Order Compliance 15 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Working Group to develop a uniform process to ensure compliance with court 16 |
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| 22 | 22 | | orders to surrender firearms. The Working Group shall study what statutory or 17 |
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| 23 | 23 | | policy changes are needed to create a uniform process to monitor compliance, 18 |
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| 24 | 24 | | support entities charged with storing surrendered firearms, and identify a stable 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.221 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 2025 Page 2 of 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | VT LEG #380492 v.1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | and reliable funding source for any additional resources needed to monitor 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | compliance. 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) Membership. The Working Group shall be composed of the following 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | members: 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) the Commissioner of Public Safety or designee; 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) a member of the Vermont State Police, appointed by the 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Commissioner of Public Safety; 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) the Commissioner of Corrections or designee; 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (4) the Chief Superior Court Judge or designee; 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (5) two family law practitioners, appointed by the Vermont Bar 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Association; 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (6) the Defender General or designee; 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (7) one State’s Attorney or designee, appointed by the Department of 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs; 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (8) the Attorney General or designee; 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (9) a member, appointed by the Vermont Network Against Domestic 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | and Sexual Violence; 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (10) a member, appointed by the Vermont Council on Domestic 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | Violence; 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (11) a member, appointed by the Vermont Center for Crime Victim 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | Services; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.221 |
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| 50 | 50 | | 2025 Page 3 of 5 |
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| 53 | 53 | | VT LEG #380492 v.1 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (12) a Victim Advocate, appointed by the Department of State’s 1 |
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| 55 | 55 | | Attorneys and Sheriffs; 2 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (13) an advocate from a culturally specific advocacy organization that 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | works with domestic violence victims, appointed by the Network Against 4 |
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| 58 | 58 | | Domestic and Sexual Violence; 5 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (14) a member who is a federal firearms licensee, appointed by the State 6 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Police representative overseeing the current firearms storage program for the 7 |
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| 61 | 61 | | Department of Public Safety; 8 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (15) a member, appointed by the Vermont Office of the Bureau of 9 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms; 10 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (16) a physician, appointed by the Vermont Medical Society; 11 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (17) the Commissioner of Mental Health or designee; 12 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (18) a sheriff, appointed by the Department of State’s Attorneys and 13 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Sheriffs; and 14 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (19) a police chief, appointed by the Vermont Association of Chiefs of 15 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Police. 16 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (c) Powers and duties. The Working Group shall: 17 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (1) Define a workable statewide compliance model that ensures 18 |
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| 72 | 72 | | accountability of respondents and defendants while addressing safety needs of 19 |
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| 73 | 73 | | the plaintiffs and victims. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.221 |
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| 77 | 77 | | VT LEG #380492 v.1 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (2) Determine how such a compliance model would work in both the 1 |
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| 79 | 79 | | Family and Criminal Divisions of the Superior Courts. 2 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (3) Determine what legislative changes are needed to support the model. 3 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (4) Assess the necessary capacity and resources of the Judiciary, law 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | enforcement, and the Department of Corrections to create a model for 5 |
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| 83 | 83 | | statewide accountability and compliance with firearm surrender orders. 6 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (5) Consult with the Domestic Violence Firearms Technical Assistance 7 |
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| 85 | 85 | | Project to determine what additional actions should be taken under existing law 8 |
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| 86 | 86 | | to promote and ensure compliance with firearm surrender orders. 9 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (6) Engage with federal firearms licensees to understand their role in 10 |
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| 88 | 88 | | storing surrendered firearms. 11 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (d) Assistance. The Working Group shall have the administrative, 12 |
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| 90 | 90 | | technical, and legal assistance of the Office of the Attorney General. 13 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (e) Report. On or before November 15, 2025, the Working Group shall 14 |
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| 92 | 92 | | report its recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Judiciary 15 |
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| 93 | 93 | | and to the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee. The report may take 16 |
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| 94 | 94 | | the form of proposed legislation. 17 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (f) Meetings. 18 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (1) The Attorney General or designee shall call the first meeting of the 19 |
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| 97 | 97 | | Working Group to occur on or before June 1, 2025. 20 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (2) The Working Group shall meet not more than six times per year. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.221 |
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| 102 | 102 | | VT LEG #380492 v.1 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (3) The Attorney General or designee shall serve as the Chair of the 1 |
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| 104 | 104 | | Working Group. 2 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (4) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 3 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (5) The Working Group shall cease to exist on January 15, 2026. 4 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (g) Compensation and reimbursement. Members of the Working Group 5 |
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| 108 | 108 | | who are not employees of the State of Vermont and who are not otherwise 6 |
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| 109 | 109 | | compensated or reimbursed for their attendance shall be entitled to 7 |
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| 110 | 110 | | compensation and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 1010 8 |
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| 111 | 111 | | for not more than six meetings per year. 9 |
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| 112 | 112 | | Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 10 |
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| 113 | 113 | | This act shall take effect on passage. 11 |
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