Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 04 - SECRETARY OF STATE › Sub-Agency 000 - GENERAL › Chapter 003 - SAFE AT HOME ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM › Section 04 000 003 - SAFE AT HOME ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM

Current through June, 2024
Section A Statement of Purpose
These rules are promulgated pursuant to the address
				confidentiality statute ( 15 V.S.A. § 1150-1160, 18 V.S.A. § 5083
				& 5132,
				17 V.S.A. §
											2122 & 2126) and
				3 V.S.A. §
											831 et seq.
Section B Definitions
1) "Actual address" means the physical
			 location where the applicant resides and may include a school address, or work
			 address of an individual, as specified on the individual's application to be a
			 program participant.
2) "Agency"
			 means any subdivision of the state of Vermont, a municipality, or a subdivision
			 of a municipality.
3) "Application
			 assistant" means an employee of a state or local agency, or of a
			 non-governmental agency or program that provides counseling, referral, or
			 shelter services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking,
			 who has been designated by their respective program, and who has been
			 registered with the Secretary of State to assist individuals in the completion
			 of program participation applications.
4) "Blind ballot voter" means a program
			 participant who has applied and qualified as a voter in a town in accordance
			 with the rules herein. The blind ballot voter's name will not appear on a
			 checklist and the town clerk will send absentee voter ballots to the Secretary
			 of State's office in accordance with the rules herein.
5) "Bona fide purpose" means a statutory or
			 administrative requirement the agency is unable to fulfill without possession
			 of an individual's actual address.
6) "Cancelled" means the status of a person
			 who is no longer certified in the SAH program.
7) "Domestic violence" means an act of abuse
			 as defined in subdivision
			 1101(1)
			 of Title 15 and includes a threat of such acts committed against an individual
			 in a domestic situation, regardless of whether these acts or threats have been
			 reported to law enforcement officers.
8) "Law enforcement agency" means:
(i) the Department of Public Safety, a
			 municipal police department, a sheriff's department, the Attorney General's
			 office, a State's Attorney's office, and certified law enforcement officers
			 employed by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Agency of Natural Resources,
			 or the Department of Liquor Control, and,
(ii) the Department of Social and
			 Rehabilitation Services when the Department is engaged in:
a) the investigation of child abuse and
			 neglect;
b) the delivery of
			 services to families and children that the department is working with pursuant
			 to the provisions of chapter 55 of Title 33; or
c) the performance of the department's
			 responsibilities pursuant to an interstate compact to which the state is a
			 party.
9)
			 "Law enforcement purpose" means all matters relating to:
(A) the prevention, investigation,
			 prosecution, or adjudication of criminal offenses, civil matters, or juvenile
			 matters;
(B) the investigation,
			 prosecution, adjudication, detention, supervision, or correction of persons
			 suspected, charged, or convicted of criminal offenses or juvenile
			 delinquencies;
(C) the protection
			 of the general health, welfare, and safety of the public or the state of
			 Vermont;
(D) the execution and
			 enforcement of court orders;
(E)
			 service of criminal or civil process or court orders;
(F) screening for criminal justice
			 employment;
(G) other actions taken
			 in performance of official duties, as set forth by statutes, rules, policies,
			 judicial case law, and the United States and Vermont constitutions;
			 and
(H) criminal identification
			 activities, including the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal
			 history records, as defined in subdivision
			 2056a(a)(1)
			 of Title 20, sex offender registry information, and DNA material and
			 information.
10)
			 "Program participant" means a person certified as a program participant in the
			 address confidentiality program in accordance with the rules herein.
11) "Public record" means a public record as
			 defined in
			 1 V.S.A.
			 §
											317.
12) "Resident" means an individual domiciled
			 in the state of Vermont as evidenced by an intent to maintain a dwelling place
			 in Vermont indefinitely and to return there if temporarily absent, coupled with
			 an act or acts consistent with that intent.
13) "Safe At Home (SAH)" means the address
			 confidentiality program created pursuant to
			 15 V.S.A. §
											1150 et seq. within the Vermont Secretary of
			 State's Office.
14) "Secretary"
			 means the Secretary of State.
15)
			 "Sexual assault" means an act of assault as defined in subsection 3252(a) or
			 (b) (sexual assault) or in subsection 3253(a) (aggravated sexual assault) of
			 Title 13, and includes a threat of such acts, regardless of whether these acts
			 or threats have been reported to law enforcement officers.
16) "Stalking" means conduct as defined in
			 section 1061 (stalking) or in section 1063 (aggravated stalking) of Title 13,
			 and includes a threat of such acts, regardless of whether these acts or threats
			 have been reported to law enforcement officers.
17) "Substitute address" means the
			 Secretary's designated address for the address confidentiality
			 program.
18) "Vital record" means
			 any record of birth, death, marriage, civil union, annulment or divorce held by
			 the Department of Health.