§ 2056c. Dissemination of criminal conviction records to the public

(a) As used in this section:

(1) "The Center" means the Vermont Crime Information Center.

(2)(A) "Criminal conviction record" means the record of convictions in the Criminal Division of the Superior Court.

(B) Release of conviction records by the Center pursuant to this section or pursuant to any other provision of State law that permits release of Vermont criminal records shall include only the charge for which the subject of the record was convicted, and shall not include docket numbers.

(b) A person may obtain from the Center a criminal conviction record for any purpose provided that the requestor has completed a user's agreement with the Center. The user's agreement shall prohibit the alteration of criminal records and shall require the requestor to comply with all statutes, rules, and policies regulating the release of criminal conviction records and the protection of individual privacy.

(c) Criminal conviction records shall be disseminated to the public by the Center under the following conditions:

(1) Public access to criminal conviction records shall be provided by a secure Internet site or other alternatives approved by the Center.

(2) A requestor who wishes to receive criminal conviction records from the Center shall accept the terms of a user agreement with the Center. The user agreement shall specify the conditions under which record information is being released and specify guidelines for the proper interpretation and use of the information.

(3) Prior to receiving criminal conviction records using the Center's Internet site, a requestor shall establish a secure, online account with the Center. Issuance of the account is conditioned upon the requestor's willingness to accept the terms of a user agreement with the Center that specifies the conditions under which record information is being released and specifies guidelines for the proper interpretation and use of the information.

(4) All queries shall be by name and date of birth of the subject.

(5) Only "no record" responses and record responses that constitute an exact match to the query criteria shall be returned automatically online. In the event that query criteria suggest a possible match, Center staff will determine whether the query criteria match a record in the repository and shall return the result to the requestor.

(6) An electronic log shall be kept of all transactions that shall indicate the name of the requestor, the date of the request, the purpose of the request, and the result of the request. This log shall not be available to any person, other than Center staff on a need-to-know basis, except pursuant to a court order.

(7) The Center's Internet site shall provide an electronic mechanism for users to notify the Center of possible record errors.

(8) The Center's Internet site shall provide links to Center training information regarding best practices for the use of record checks as part of a complete background check process.

(9) The Center shall charge a fee of $30.00 for each criminal record check query pursuant to this section.

(10) No person entitled to receive a criminal conviction record pursuant to this section shall require an applicant to obtain, submit personally, or pay for a copy of his or her criminal conviction record, except that this subdivision shall not apply to a local governmental entity with respect to criminal conviction record checks for licenses or vendor permits required by the local governmental entity. (Added 1999, No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; amended 2005, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2007, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 3, 5; 2007, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. July 1, 2009; 2009, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 2009, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 9a; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238; 2013, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)