While State’s Attorney Sarah George has implemented nationally recognized progressive policies on issues like cash bail and traffic stop prosecutions, her office provides minimal public data.
I am not sure why you would single out the Chittenden County SA, insinuating that they have something to hide. Also, it's a resource issue. Not everyone can do a data extraction and none of these offices has dedicated data folks.
Thank you for taking the time to read the piece closely and to share your perspective. I appreciate the point you raise, and it’s a fair one.
The article is not intended to insinuate that the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office has something to hide. Nor does it suggest bad faith on the part of any individual prosecutor. The focus is on structural transparency, not motive.
Chittenden County was singled out for comparison because it is Vermont’s largest and most policy-influential prosecutor’s office, and because it has adopted nationally recognized reforms that are often cited—by supporters and critics alike—as shaping statewide criminal justice debates. When policies are as consequential and as frequently discussed as these, the absence of publicly accessible outcome data becomes a meaningful public issue, regardless of intent.
You are absolutely right that resources matter. The article explicitly acknowledges that Vermont prosecutors do not have dedicated data staff and that the state has not funded a unified data system. That resource gap is central to the problem being examined. At the same time, the comparison with Maine—another small, rural state using the same JustWare system—was included to show that some degree of public reporting is possible even under similar constraints, particularly when supported at the state level.
The core question the piece raises is not “why won’t prosecutors share data,” but rather whether Vermont’s current structure and funding choices leave the public without the tools needed to objectively evaluate criminal justice policy outcomes. That’s a policy and governance question, not an accusation.
I genuinely appreciate you flagging this concern. Thoughtful pushback like this helps sharpen the conversation and is exactly what Compass Vermont is trying to encourage.
I am not sure why you would single out the Chittenden County SA, insinuating that they have something to hide. Also, it's a resource issue. Not everyone can do a data extraction and none of these offices has dedicated data folks.
Dear K87,
Thank you for taking the time to read the piece closely and to share your perspective. I appreciate the point you raise, and it’s a fair one.
The article is not intended to insinuate that the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office has something to hide. Nor does it suggest bad faith on the part of any individual prosecutor. The focus is on structural transparency, not motive.
Chittenden County was singled out for comparison because it is Vermont’s largest and most policy-influential prosecutor’s office, and because it has adopted nationally recognized reforms that are often cited—by supporters and critics alike—as shaping statewide criminal justice debates. When policies are as consequential and as frequently discussed as these, the absence of publicly accessible outcome data becomes a meaningful public issue, regardless of intent.
You are absolutely right that resources matter. The article explicitly acknowledges that Vermont prosecutors do not have dedicated data staff and that the state has not funded a unified data system. That resource gap is central to the problem being examined. At the same time, the comparison with Maine—another small, rural state using the same JustWare system—was included to show that some degree of public reporting is possible even under similar constraints, particularly when supported at the state level.
The core question the piece raises is not “why won’t prosecutors share data,” but rather whether Vermont’s current structure and funding choices leave the public without the tools needed to objectively evaluate criminal justice policy outcomes. That’s a policy and governance question, not an accusation.
I genuinely appreciate you flagging this concern. Thoughtful pushback like this helps sharpen the conversation and is exactly what Compass Vermont is trying to encourage.
Best,
Tom Davis, Publisher