An act relating to miscellaneous judiciary procedures

New section 7 V.S.A. Section 1005 adds a civil penalty framework for persons ages 12 to 21 who possess tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, or tobacco paraphernalia. Possession carries a $25 civil penalty and immediate confiscation, processed like a traffic violation. Misrepresenting age by presenting false identification to purchase tobacco carries a penalty of up to $50 or up to 10 hours of community service, or both. Exceptions exist for employees of licensed tobacco sellers acting in the course of employment and for Indigenous cultural tobacco practices.

Header and formatting changes: the act number 'No. 165' was removed, the document title changed to 'BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE AND SENATE H.937', a statement of purpose was added, and page count increased from 43 to 47 pages.

Section 3, which would have amended 7 V.S.A. section 1005 to prohibit persons 12-20 from possessing, purchasing, or misrepresenting age to purchase tobacco products (with a $25 civil penalty for possession and up to $50 or 10 hours community service for misrepresenting age), was deleted entirely from the enacted bill.

In 13 V.S.A. section 5363(e) and (f)(2), the threshold at which excess restitution collections are paid first to victims was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000. This means that when the Restitution Unit collects more than $5,000 from an offender (instead of $10,000), the excess goes to victims before being split between the Victims Compensation Fund and the Crime Victims Special Restitution Fund.

A new subsection (d) was added to 7 V.S.A. section 656 requiring that a notice of suspension served on an underage driver (BAC 0.02 or higher) must include: the effective date, duration, explanation of consequences, the option to operate with an ignition interlock restricted license under 23 V.S.A. section 1213, the projected reinstatement date, and the ability to review the suspension under Rule 75 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure.

The maximum payment from the Restitution Fund to a victim's estate for future uninsured material losses caused by a crime-related death was increased from $5,000 to $10,000 (Sec. 18, 13 V.S.A. 7043(b)(2)).

The record retention period for pretrial risk assessment and needs screening information was shortened from three years to two years (Sec. 19, 13 V.S.A. 7554c(e)(3)).

The interval for court review hearings during contempt incarceration was changed from every 15 days to every 14 days (new Sec. 22, 15 V.S.A. 603(h)(4)(A)).

New Section 20 repeals the spendthrift guardianship provisions of 14 V.S.A. (sections 2681, 2684, 2685, 2687, 2690, 2691, 2692, and 2693), eliminating the legal framework for appointing guardians over spendthrifts.

New Section 21 adds 14A V.S.A. 505(c) providing that property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety, when conveyed to their jointly or separately held trusts, is immune from claims of the spouses' separate creditors to the same extent it would have been if still held as tenants by the entirety. Effective April 24, 2025, applying to all trusts created before, on, or after that date and to all judicial proceedings commenced on or after that date.

New Section 23 adds 15 V.S.A. 1085 regarding registration of child custody determinations (text truncated in the diff).

New Section 22 adds 15 V.S.A. 603(h) establishing procedures for contempt orders, including the court's authority to order incarceration with purge conditions, a requirement to find present ability to pay before ordering payment as a purge condition, and mandatory review hearings every 14 days while the contemnor is in custody.

Gender-neutral language updates throughout the bill, replacing 'his or her' with 'the person's' in multiple sections including Sec. 3 (tobacco), Sec. 19 (pretrial risk assessments), and Sec. 22 (contempt).

Official version adds introductory metadata including 'Introduced by Committee on Judiciary,' a Date field, a Subject line ('Court procedure; criminal procedure; miscellaneous amendments'), and a Statement of Purpose paragraph.

Header changed from 'AS PASSED BY HOUSE' to 'BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE' and page count increased from 35 to 36 pages due to the added introductory content.