Vermont Automatic Record Sealing

What Vermont Seals Automatically

Under Act 60 and 13 V.S.A. § 7603, Vermont courts automatically initiate sealing for certain categories of records within 60 days of the final disposition, unless either party objects in the interests of justice. No petition is required for this automatic path — the court handles the process on its own.

Automatic sealing applies to:

• Acquittals — you went to trial and were found not guilty
• Dismissals — the charge was dropped by the prosecutor or dismissed by the court
• No probable cause findings — the court determined at arraignment that there wasn't sufficient basis to proceed
• Certain motor vehicle violations — operating after suspension and operating without a license under 23 V.S.A. § 2303

For these dispositions, the court is supposed to trigger the sealing process within 60 days of the case's final resolution. Once sealed, the records are removed from public databases and the person can legally state that the arrest or charge doesn't exist on standard applications.

Additionally, Act 60 introduced automatic expungement (full record destruction) for:

• Municipal violations — expunged automatically 2 years after judgment satisfaction
• Motor vehicle violations committed on or after July 1, 2021 — automatically expunged 2 years after satisfaction of the judgment

The Clean Slate Misconception

National headlines about "Clean Slate" legislation often lead Vermont residents to believe their convictions will be automatically cleared without any action on their part. This is one of the most persistent and damaging misconceptions in Vermont record clearance.

Here's the reality: automatic sealing in Vermont is extremely narrow. It covers only the categories listed above — primarily non-convictions (cases where you were never found guilty) and certain minor motor vehicle offenses. If you were convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or DUI, automatic sealing does not apply to your case. Period.

For any standard conviction, the process is entirely petition-based. You must actively file a petition with the court, demonstrate that you meet the eligibility requirements, satisfy all financial obligations, and navigate the prosecutor notification process. Nothing happens automatically.

The confusion often stems from mixing up Vermont's actual law with broader Clean Slate proposals that some states have adopted, which do automatically seal certain conviction records after a set period. Vermont has not adopted that approach for convictions. Its automatic provisions are limited to non-conviction records and narrow motor vehicle categories.

What Happens to Pre-2018 Dismissed Cases

Automatic sealing does not reach every older non-conviction record. If you have a dismissed case or acquittal from before July 1, 2018 (when earlier automatic provisions were introduced), your records were not covered by the automatic process and require a petition.

For older non-conviction records that weren't caught by the automatic process, you can still file a petition to seal them. There's no waiting period for non-convictions — you can file at any time. Use Form 200-00130 (Petition to Expunge or Seal Criminal History) and file in the Superior Court Criminal Division of the county where the case was heard. There's no filing fee.

How to Verify Your Records Were Sealed

Automatic sealing depends on court administrative processes, and those processes don't always execute smoothly. If you had a case dismissed or were acquitted and want to confirm that the record has been sealed:

Check the Vermont Judiciary's public access terminals. Located in courthouses statewide, these terminals let you search for your case at no cost. If the record has been sealed, the case should no longer appear in the public-facing system.

Request a personal criminal record check from VCIC. The Vermont Crime Information Center maintains the central repository. A $30 check (by mail or walk-in at the Waterbury office) will show you everything that's currently in the state system under your name. If a dismissed case still appears, it may not have been sealed properly.

Contact the court clerk in the county where the case was heard. Ask them to verify whether the sealing order was entered. If it wasn't — due to an administrative oversight — you can file a petition to seal the non-conviction record and typically get it resolved quickly.

Why a Dismissed Charge Still Matters

You might wonder why it matters whether a dismissed case is sealed — after all, you weren't convicted. The answer is background checks. Until a record is sealed, the arrest and charge remain visible in public databases and can appear on employer, landlord, and licensing background checks. A prospective employer sees "arrested for X" and may not look closely enough to notice the case was dismissed.

Automatic sealing is supposed to prevent this, but administrative gaps mean you can't assume it's happened. Proactively checking is worth the small effort, especially if you're in the middle of a job search or housing application.

For conviction records — which aren't covered by automatic sealing — the Vermont Expungement & Record Sealing Guide covers the full petition process, from eligibility screening through filing and post-order enforcement. If you have both convictions and non-convictions on your record, the guide helps you sort which records need a petition and which should have been sealed automatically.

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