Updated at 3:33 p.m.
To address concerns over persistent low-level crimes and “disorder” in Burlington, Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced that he will appoint a special prosecutor to focus on cases involving “service-resistant” repeat offenders.
Defendants awaiting trial on five or more criminal cases in Chittenden County will be sent to a specific courtroom in which a dedicated judge will preside. The goal of this “community accountability court” will be to reduce the backlog of criminal cases currently plaguing Vermont’s largest county, Scott’s announcement said. It represents the first step of a multipoint plan that Scott will further detail next week to address what he’s described as Burlington’s public safety “crisis.”
“By surging resources over a 3–4-month period towards reducing the backlog, we can hold repeat offenders accountable, while also connecting people to the services they need,” Scott said in a statement.
The announcement comes as Burlington officials confront mounting complaints from residents and business owners over a perceived sense of lawlessness in the Queen City. Much of the frustration has been toward people whose repeated crimes appear to go unpunished — a phenomenon that local prosecutors say has a lot to do with the backlogs.
After trading barbs in the media, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Scott met earlier this week to discuss how the state can better support the city’s effort to tackle the seemingly intractable problems it faces.
Both sides identified the rapid-intervention court as one possible short-term solution, Mulvaney-Stanak said in the statement: “I am grateful to Governor Scott and his team for their work to bring this online.”
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George also endorsed the idea. She estimated that many of the low-level crimes in Burlington are committed by a group of between 50 to 70 people who fail to succeed in existing diversion programs.
“When a handful of people are cycling through the system with multiple pending dockets, we must pivot from simply delaying accountability to providing quick, meaningful court interaction paired with necessary treatment,” George said in the statement. “This intervention is critical to public safety and reducing the massive strain these cases place on our resources.”
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