What needs to change in Vermont.

• Clergy expressly named at 33 V.S.A. § 4913(a)(12)

  Subsection (a)(12) enumerates 'a member of the clergy' among mandated reporters. The term is defined separately at **33 V.S.A. § 4912(8)** to cover priests, rabbis, ordained or licensed ministers, leaders of any church or religious body, accredited Christian Science practitioners, and persons whose official duties are recognized by their religious body as equivalent to those of clergy. The definition covers many traditions, but only when the institution itself recognizes the role.

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• Privilege defenses barred, with one carveout, at § 4913(i)-(k)

  Subsection (i) bars mandated reporters from refusing to report on privilege or confidential-communication grounds, 'except as provided in subsection (j).' Subsection (j) preserves the clergy exception only when **all four** elements are met: the communication was (1) made to clergy acting as spiritual advisor, (2) intended to be confidential, (3) intended by the communicant as an act of contrition or matter of conscience, and (4) required to be confidential by religious law, doctrine, or tenet. Subsection (k) requires clergy to report whenever abuse information reaches them through any other channel.

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• The religious body defines what counts as sacramental

  The fourth element of the § 4913(j) test ('required to be confidential by religious law, doctrine, or tenet') places the definition of sacramental confidentiality inside the religious institution itself. A church that defines a bishop's office, a counseling session, or any pastoral conversation as confidential under its own doctrine can fold those exchanges into the carveout. The statute does not constrain how broadly an institution may draw that line.

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• Repeated cross-biennium repeal effort supports the active-push posture

  The § 4913(j) carveout has been the subject of repeal bills in **two consecutive biennia**: S.16 in 2023-2024 (Sen. Sears), which did not advance in committee, and H.880 in 2025-2026 (Rep. Cole of Hartford with co-sponsors from across the chamber), currently pending in House Judiciary. The parallel S.239 working-group bill, signed into law in May 2026, adds policy-infrastructure momentum to the broader mandated-reporting review. The pattern is multi-session, not one-off.

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What it takes to close the gap.

Bills in motion right now.

• H.880committee

  An act relating to repealing the exception for clergy to report child abuse and neglect

  Introduced February 4, 2026 by Rep. Cole of Hartford with co-sponsors from across the chamber; referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. The introduced text would repeal § 4913(j) and (k), removing the four-element confessional carveout entirely, with an effective date of July 1, 2026. H.880 is the direct successor to S.16 (2023-2024), which did not advance in committee.

  SponsorsRep. Cole of Hartford, Rep. Greer of Bennington, Rep. Boutin of Barre City, Rep. Carris Duncan of Whitingham, Rep. Emmons of Springfield, Rep. Holcombe of Norwich
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How Vermont got here.

• 2022
  AP investigation exposes the clergy carveout

  An Associated Press investigation documents how the four-element § 4913(j) exception lets sacramental and pastoral confidential communications stay outside Vermont's reporting duty, naming the gap that repeal bills will target across the next two biennia.

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• 2023-2024
  S.16 dies in committee

  Sen. Richard Sears introduces a bill repealing the § 4913(j) carveout. It does not advance in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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• 2026-02
  H.880 introduced

  Rep. Cole of Hartford and co-sponsors from across the chamber introduce H.880, a successor repeal bill that would strike § 4913(j) and (k) outright, effective July 1, 2026. Read first time February 4, 2026; referred to the House Committee on Judiciary.

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• 2026-05
  S.239 working group enacted

  S.239 passes both the Senate and House and is signed into law by the Governor on May 21, 2026. It establishes the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Working Group, charged with reviewing mandated-reporting statutes, rules, and policies and recommending changes by January 15, 2027. The act is not clergy-specific, but it institutionalizes the broader mandated-reporting review that H.880 advances within.

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Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• Vermont General Assembly· current through 2025 session
  33 V.S.A. § 4913 — Reporting child abuse and neglect; remedial action

  The principal mandatory-reporting statute. Subsection (a)(12) names members of the clergy; subsection (i) bars privilege defenses except as provided in (j); subsection (j) preserves the four-element clergy-penitent carveout; subsection (k) requires clergy to report when information arrives through any non-privileged channel.

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• Vermont General Assembly
  33 V.S.A. § 4912 — Definitions

  Section 4912(8) defines 'member of the clergy' broadly: priests, rabbis, ordained or licensed ministers, leaders of any church or religious body, accredited Christian Science practitioners, and persons whose official duties are recognized by their religious body as equivalent to those of clergy. The definition covers many traditions, but only when the institution itself recognizes the role.

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• Vermont General Assembly· 2026-02-04
  Bill Status H.880 (2025-2026)

  Official bill page for H.880, 'An act relating to repealing the exception for clergy to report child abuse and neglect.' Last recorded action: read first time and referred to the House Committee on Judiciary on February 4, 2026. Anchors the active-push urgency posture.

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• Vermont General Assembly· 2026
  Bill as Introduced H.880 (2026)

  Introduced text of H.880. Proposes to amend § 4913 by deleting subsection (j) (the clergy-penitent exception) and repealing subsection (k), with an effective date of July 1, 2026. Directly targets the privilege-preserved posture.

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• Vermont General Assembly
  Bill Status S.16 (2023-2024)

  Prior-biennium repeal bill from Sen. Richard Sears that did not advance after Senate Judiciary Committee testimony from religious institutions. Establishes the multi-session pattern that distinguishes Vermont's active-push posture from a one-off recent-attempt framing.

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• Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. HHS Children's Bureau· 2023
  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — Vermont

  Federal state-statute summary citing 33 V.S.A. §§ 4913 and 4912. Independently confirms both that Vermont expressly names clergy as mandated reporters and that the four-element clergy-penitent carveout is in force. Useful cross-validation from an authoritative secondary source.

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• Associated Press· 2022-09-28
  In 33 states, loopholes exempt clergy from reporting child sex abuse

  AP investigation by Jason Dearen and Michael Rezendes. Documents how 33 states, including Vermont, maintain clergy-penitent exceptions that allow abuse disclosures made in confessional settings to go unreported. Vermont Sen. Richard Sears is quoted saying he was unaware of the loophole and would introduce legislation to close it, directly triggering S.16 in the 2023-2024 biennium.

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• VTDigger· 2023-03-17
  Clergy reporting bill fails to make key legislative deadline over constitutional concerns

  Reports S.16 was shelved over constitutional concerns; Bishop Christopher Coyne of Burlington testified on religious-freedom grounds. Substantiates the claim that repeal efforts ran into opposition from religious institutions and religious-freedom arguments.

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