Has Burlington’s special accountability court worked?

"Court backlog. 

The phrase has defined a malaise that’s permeated the Vermont Legislature’s work on public safety initiatives in recent years. When Covid-19 slowed down the judicial system, criminal cases piled up, leading defendants and victims to wait years for resolution.

Enter the Chittenden County accountability docket. Proposed by Gov. Phil Scott last fall, the pilot project dedicated court time and staff to expediting hearings for people with five or more pending criminal cases, sometimes called dockets. 

On Wednesday, some of the key leaders of the program reported the project had been a success. But its future — whether in Chittenden County or expanded across the state — is uncertain. 

Since October, the special court or “docket,” which focuses on lower-level offenses, has resolved almost 400 cases of the nearly 900 under its purview, according to data presented by Jaye Johnson, the governor’s counsel, to the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions. 

Having recently spent a day observing a Burlington courthouse, Rep. Brian Minier, D-South Burlington, summed up the special program’s effectiveness. In a “regular” courtroom, hearings were scheduled three months out. But in room 3B — the designated space for the accountability program — the judge met weekly with defendants. 

Tim Lueders-Dumont, who leads the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, said the promise of the pilot hinged on the excellent collaboration between the special prosecutor, designated defense attorney, the judge and human services staff. 

It’s been “successful,” he said, but “we’re not going to say mission accomplished.”

The Burlington-based initiative is scheduled to phase out in the beginning of February. Rutland County is a possible location for a next version of the program, the leaders hinted, but they stressed that Chittenden County’s model won’t work everywhere. Conversations have begun to figure out how every county might create designated time for resolving cases involving defendants with numerous dockets. ..."

Original article can be found here: Final Reading: Has Burlington’s special accountability court worked? - VTDigger