The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Vermont S 140 Establishes Second Look Sentencing and Compassionate Release Procedures
Last action · April 3, 2025: Read 1st time & referred to Committee on JudiciarySponsors: Tanya Vyhovsky and 3 others
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
This bill creates a judicial process for second-look sentencing review and for eligible incarcerated individuals in Vermont. It allows people who have served at least 10 years or 50 percent of certain sentences to petition for a sentence reduction, and establishes early release mechanisms for those with serious medical conditions or advanced age.
Incarcerated individuals meeting specific time-served or health criteria gain the legal right to petition courts for sentence reductions or , altering potential lengths of stay and opening new review pathways within the correctional system.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Incarcerated individuals
Incarcerated persons gain the legal right to petition for sentence reductions and compassionate release under specified time-served and health conditions.
Department of Corrections
The Department is required to provide written notifications to inmates upon reaching specific time-served milestones and may be asked to provide sentence calculations.
Victims
Victims receive prompt notice of scheduled hearing dates and retain the right to appear and make statements at sentencing hearings without disturbing awarded restitution.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to file a second-look sentencing petition?
What medical conditions qualify an offender for compassionate release?
How does the bill affect parole eligibility for older inmates?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Apr 3, 2025SenateIntroducedRead 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Second-Look Sentencing and Expanded Compassionate Release
The bill establishes formal statutory pathways for sentence reviews and medical parole/release options that bypass traditional minimum sentence constraints under specific conditions.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.vermont.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy70Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools