The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
008
:
VERMONT FALSE CLAIMS ACT
(Cite as: 32 V.S.A. § 639)
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§ 639. Limitation of actions; final judgments in criminal proceedings
(a) A civil action under section 632 of this chapter for a violation of subsection 631(a)
of this chapter may not be brought after the last to occur of:
(1) more than six years after the date on which the violation was committed; or
(2) more than three years after the date when facts material to the right of action are
known or reasonably should have been known by the official within the Attorney General’s
office with responsibility to act in the circumstances, but in no event more than
10 years after the date on which the violation is committed.
(b) A civil action under this subchapter may be brought for activity prior to enactment
if the limitations period set in subsection (a) of this section has not lapsed.
(c) If the State elects to intervene and proceed with an action brought under subsection
632(b) of this chapter, the State may file its own complaint or amend the complaint
of a person who has brought an action pursuant to subsection 632(b). For statute of
limitations purposes, any such pleading shall relate back to the filing date of the
complaint of the person who originally brought the action, to the extent that the
claim of the State arises out of the conduct, transactions, or occurrences set forth,
or attempted to be set forth, in the prior complaint of that person.
(d) Notwithstanding any other general or special law, rule of procedure, or rule of evidence
to the contrary, a final judgment rendered in favor of the State in any criminal proceeding
charging false statements or fraud, whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea
of guilty or nolo contendere, shall estop the defendant from denying the essential
elements of the offense in any action that involves the same transaction as in the
criminal proceeding and that is brought under section 632 of this chapter. (Added 2015, No. 25, § 1, eff. May 18, 2015; amended 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 185.)