I skipped reporting to you last week as little was happening either on the floor of either chamber or in committee concerning issues we’ve been following. Last week though the retention process was winding down with the judges’ return to the committee to comment on anything that may have arisen during the public hearings. Only Judge Hayes had something to respond to and she did by laying out her plan to both improve her performance and to address problems identified by others. I’m sure you’ve all seen the media coverage on this so I won’t comment further.

This week on Tuesday evening the committee met for the final time and voted to retain all six judges with only Judge Hayes getting one no vote. Committee Chairman John Campbell abstained from the vote on Judge Hayes. Frankly, I’ve never seen that before in a case in which a committee member did not recuse himself/herself because of possible conflicts. This followed another unusual twist: the committee went into executive session for about 90 minutes to deliberate and discuss the judges. Although I have seen executive sessions at retention before, I have never seen the deliberation piece be done in executive session.

At the end of every retention process there is discussion about improving how it’s done, but little seems to happen after the vote is taken. The same discussion occurred last week but it remains to be seen if there will be an in depth discussion about getting more feedback to the judges other than on a six year cycle. The final part of this process is the vote of the joint assembly now scheduled for Thursday, March 20 th at 10:30.

I’ve written about H. 180 a bill that would require state’s attorneys, deputies, etc. to be admitted to the practice of law in Vermont. That bill has been replaced by a committee bill drafted by the House Judiciary Committee and introduced on Tuesday. The bill, H.871, requires the deputy and assistant AGs, deputy states’ attorneys, and candidates for probate judge to be admitted to practice in Vermont. It does grandfather those already in office at the effective date of the bill- July 1, 2010.

Some bills are moving through the pipeline this week. H. 775, the bill allowing the establishment of L3Cs, or low profit limited liability companies gained house approval and is off to the Senate. There was actually an identical companion bill introduced in the Senate which bill was recently transferred from the Economic Development Committee to the Finance Committee which is where H. 775 should end. Also, last Friday morning Bob Pratt, chair of the Probate and Trust Law Section and Caledonia Probate Judge Toby Balivet testified before the House Judiciary Committee and their and Jon Secrest and Stephanie Willbanks’ attempt at rewriting H. 203, the bill relating to descent and survivors’ rights. The Senate Judiciary Committee bill on domestic violence is on its way to the house where its fate is unsure. That bill, S. 357, is the one that raises the divorce filing fee to $275, even though it’s already been raised $25 in the fee bill. I know that the House Ways and Means Committee opposes this additional fee and it’s not clear where the money would come form if that provision is deleted. Remember that the filing fee increase is not the only funding source; the surcharge on criminal fines and traffic tickets would go from $26 to $39! Don’t get a ticket in Vermont!

The Senate advanced S. 226 concerning the installation of smoke detectors. It requires a new type of detector to be installed: photoelectric type smoke detectors. CLICK HERE to read the text of the bill.

Clearly those if you involved in the transfer of title need to pay attention to this new requirement if it passes the House later this spring.

It will be three weeks before I report to you again as next week the legislature will be in recess for Town Meeting and the week after I will be attending an ABA program in Chicago. Look for my next report on Friday March 21st.

Thanks for reading.

Questions about this site should be sent to fcopeland@vtbar.org.

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