The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 13: Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Chapter 075: Treason and Other Offenses Against the Government

• Subchapter 001: TREASON AND RELATED OFFENSES

• § 3401. Definition and punishment of treason

  A person owing allegiance to this State, who levies war or conspires to levy war against the same, or adheres to the enemies thereof, giving them aid and comfort, within the State or elsewhere, shall be guilty of treason against this State and shall be imprisoned for not less than 25 years with a maximum term of life and, in addition, may be fined not more than $50,000.00. (Amended 2023, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 6, 2024.)

• § 3402. Place of trial; testimony

  Such person may be tried in any county in the State, but shall not be convicted except upon testimony equivalent to two witnesses to the same overt act of treason of which he or she stands indicted, or upon confession in open court.

• § 3403. Misprision of treason

  A person owing allegiance to this State, knowing such treason to have been committed, or knowing of the intent of a person to commit such treason, who does not, within 14 days from the time of having such knowledge, give information thereof to the Governor of the State, to one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, a Superior judge, or a justice of the peace, shall be guilty of misprision of treason and shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years nor less than five years or fined not more than $2,000.00, or both. (Amended 1965, No. 194, § 10, operative February 1, 1967; 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2019, No. 77, § 15, eff. June 19, 2019.)

• § 3404. Powers of arrest; proceedings

  A district judge, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or police officer having notice or knowledge, or who suspects that a person has committed treason or an offense mentioned in sections 3481-3485 of this title, shall arrest such person without warrant and take him or her before a Justice of the Supreme Court or a Superior judge, who shall have authority to commit such person to jail, or may bind him or her over with sufficient sureties by way of recognizance, for his appearance before the Superior Court of the county in which the offense was committed, to answer to such information or indictment as may be brought against him or her. Section 7173 of this title shall apply to such a Justice of the Supreme Court and to such a Superior judge. (Amended 1965, No. 194, § 10, operative February 1, 1967; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1973, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), § 47.)

• § 3405. Promotion of anarchy

  A person who by speech or directly or indirectly by exhibition, distribution, or promulgation of any written or printed document or paper or pictorial representation, shall advocate, advise, counsel, or incite unlawful assault upon, or the killing of a public official, or the unlawful destruction of property, or the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the State, or who, at any meeting or in the presence of more than three persons in any place or in any manner, shall advise, advocate, or counsel the violation of or unlawful refusal to obey a law of the State respecting the preservation of the peace and the protection of life or property shall be imprisoned not more than three years or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both.

• Subchapter 002: SABOTAGE PREVENTION ACT

• § 3431. Definitions

  As used in this subchapter:

  (1) “Highway” includes any private or public street, way, or other place used for travel to or from property.

  (2) “Road commissioner” means any individual, board, or other body having authority under then existing law to discontinue the use of the highway that it is desired to restrict or close to public use and travel. The power to discontinue highways or the use thereof vested in any town may, for the purpose of this subchapter, be exercised by the selectboard thereof.

  (3) “Public utility” includes any pipeline, gas, electric, heat, water, oil, sewer, telephone, telegraph, radio, railway, railroad, airplane, transportation, communication, or other system, by whomsoever owned or operated, for public use.

• § 3432. Interference with defense or war effort

  A person who intentionally destroys, impairs, injures, interferes, or tampers with real or personal property, with reasonable grounds to believe that such act will hinder, delay, or interfere with the preparation of the United States or of any of the states for defense or for war, or with the prosecution of war by the United States, shall be imprisoned not less than one year nor more than 10 years or fined not more than $10,000.00, or both.

• § 3433. Defective materials

  A person who intentionally makes or causes to be made or omits to note on inspection any defect in any article or thing with reasonable grounds to believe that such article or thing is intended to be used in connection with the preparation of the United States or any of the states for defense or for war, or for the prosecution of war by the United States, or that such article or thing is one of a number of similar articles or things, some of which are so to be used, intending thereby to hinder, delay, or interfere with the preparation of the United States or of any of the states for defense or for war, or with the prosecution of war by the United States, shall be imprisoned not less than one year nor more than 10 years or fined not more than $10,000.00, or both.

• § 3434. Attempts

  A person who attempts to commit any of the crimes defined by this subchapter shall be liable to one-half the punishment prescribed for the completed crime. In addition to the acts that constitute an attempt to commit a crime under the law of this State, the solicitation or incitement of another to commit any of the crimes defined by this subchapter not followed by the commission of the crime, the collection or assemblage of any materials with the intent that the same are to be used then or at a later time in the commission of such crime, or the entry, with or without permission, into a building, enclosure, or other premises of another with the intent to commit any such crime therein or thereon shall constitute an attempt to commit such crime.

• § 3435. Conspiracy

  If two or more persons conspire to commit any crime defined by this subchapter, each of such persons shall be guilty of conspiracy and subject to the same punishment as if he or she had committed the crime that he or she conspired to commit, whether or not any act be done in furtherance of the conspiracy. The fact that any of his or her fellow conspirators has been acquitted, has not been arrested or convicted, is not amenable to justice, or has been pardoned or otherwise discharged before or after conviction shall not constitute any defense or ground of suspension of judgment, sentence, or punishment on behalf of any person prosecuted under this section.

• § 3436. Self incrimination of witnesses; immunity from prosecution

  No person shall be excused from attending and testifying, or producing any books, papers, or other documents before any court, magistrate, referee, or grand jury upon any investigation, proceeding, or trial, for or relating to or concerned with a violation of any section of this subchapter or attempt to commit such violation, upon the ground or for the reason that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him or her by the State may tend to convict him or her of a crime or to subject him or her to a penalty or forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter or thing concerning which he or she may so testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, and no testimony so given or produced shall be received against him or her, upon any criminal investigation, proceeding or trial, except upon a prosecution for perjury or contempt of court based upon the giving or producing of such testimony.

• § 3437. Posting premises

  An individual, partnership, association, corporation, municipal corporation, or state or any political subdivision thereof engaged in, or preparing to engage in the following enterprises, the property of which is enclosed by a fence, wall, building, or water frontage or any combination of the same, may post around such property at each gate, entrance, or dock and for every one hundred feet of water front a sign reading “No entry without permission”:

  (1) The manufacture, transportation, or storage of any product to be used in the preparation of the United States or of any of the states for defense or for war or in the prosecution of war by the United States.

  (2) The manufacture, transportation, distribution, or storage of gas, oil, coal, electricity, or water.

  (3) The operation of any public utility.

• § 3438. Trespass on posted premises

  A person who, without permission from such owner, shall willfully enter upon premises so posted as provided in section 3437 of this title shall be imprisoned not more than 10 days or fined not more than $50.00, or both.

• § 3439. Arrest

  Any peace officer or any person employed as watchman, guard, or in a supervisory capacity on premises posted as provided in section 3437 of this title may stop any person found on any premises to which entry without permission is forbidden by section 3437 and may detain him or her for the purpose of requiring of him or her his or her name, address, and business in such place. If such peace officer or employee has reason to believe from the answers of the person so interrogated that such person has no right to be in such place, he or she shall forthwith arrest such person without a warrant on the charge of violating the provisions of section 3437.

• § 3440. Closing highways

  An individual, partnership, association, corporation, municipal corporation or state or any political subdivision thereof engaged in or preparing to engage in the manufacture, transportation, or storage of any product to be used in the preparation of the United States or any of the states for defense or for war or in the prosecution of war by the United States, or in the manufacture, transportation, distribution, or storage of gas, oil, coal, electricity, or water, or any of such natural or artificial persons operating any public utility, who has property so used that he or she or it believes will be endangered if public use and travel is not restricted or prohibited on one or more highways or parts thereof upon which such property abuts, may petition the road commissioners of any city, town, or county to close one or more of such highways or parts thereof to public use and travel or to restrict by order the use and travel upon one or more of such highways or parts thereof.

• § 3441. Notice and hearing

  Upon receipt of such petition, the road commissioners shall set a day for hearing and give notice thereof by publication in a newspaper having general circulation in the city, town, or county in which such property is located, such notice to be at least seven days prior to the date set for hearing. If, after hearing, the road commissioners determine that the public safety and the safety of the property of the petitioner so require, they shall by suitable order close to public use and travel or reasonably restrict the use of and travel upon one or more of such highways or parts thereof. However, the road commissioners may issue written permits to travel over the highway so closed or restricted to responsible and reputable persons for such term, under such conditions and in such form as such commissioners may prescribe. Appropriate notices in letters at least three inches high shall be posted conspicuously at each end of any highway so closed or restricted by such order. The road commissioners may at any time revoke or modify any order so made.

• § 3442. Penalties

  A person who violates any order made under sections 3440 and 3441 of this title shall be imprisoned not more than 10 days or fined not more than $50.00, or both.

• § 3443. Effect on labor organizations

  Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to impair, curtail, or destroy the rights of employees and their representatives to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

• § 3444. Suspension of other laws

  All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this subchapter are hereby suspended in their application to any proceedings under this subchapter. If conduct prohibited by this subchapter is also made unlawful by other law, the offender may be convicted for the violation of this subchapter or of such other law.

• § 3445. When subchapter in force

  This subchapter shall be in force whenever the United States is at war. However, any violation of this subchapter, committed while the chapter is in force, may be prosecuted and punished thereafter, whether or not this subchapter is in force at the time of such prosecution and punishment.

• Subchapter 003: OTHER OFFENSES

• § 3481. Repealed. 2017, No. 16, § 1.

• § 3482. Furnishing information to enemy

  (a) A person shall not furnish, nor attempt to furnish, to a government at war with or threatening war on the United States, or to a citizen of such government or to a person whom he or she has reason to believe will furnish or attempt to furnish to such government or citizen, information relative to:

  (1) the location, construction, or condition of a military camp, fort, armory, arsenal, or building in which munitions of war are being manufactured or are stored;

  (2) the proposed location of such camp, fort, armory, arsenal, or building;

  (3) the location or condition or proposed location of a bridge, road, car, boat, canal, dockyard, telephone or telegraph line or equipment, wireless station or equipment, railway or railway equipment, property of a corporation subject to the supervision of the Public Utility Commission;

  (4) the topography of the State or a part thereof;

  (5) the number, character, condition, or location of the National Guard or the land or naval forces of the United States in this State.

  (b) A person who violates a subdivision of subsection (a) of this section shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39; 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 15.)

• § 3483. Injuries to certain property; penalty

  (a) While the United States is at war or threatened with war, a person shall not:

  (1) injure or attempt or conspire, or have in his or her possession any tool, explosive, or means with intent to use the same or for some one else to use, to injure a bridge, road, car, boat, canal, dockyard, telephone or telegraph line or equipment, wireless station or equipment, railway or highway equipment, road or railway making equipment, property, or a corporation subject to the supervision of the Public Utility Commission, property designed for use by the State or a municipality or railway, telephone, or telegraph company, property of a person, copartnership, or corporation engaged in or about to engage in making munitions of war or property to become the property of the State, or a building belonging to the State or a municipality or to a railway, telephone, or telegraph company or to a corporation subject to the supervision of the Public Utility Commission; or

  (2) pollute or place any poisonous substance in any water liable to be used by a person or domestic animal.

  (b) A person who violates a subdivision of subsection (a) of this section shall be imprisoned not more than 20 years. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39; 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 15.)

• § 3484. Concerted action by three or more

  If three or more persons, acting in concert, with force and violence, attempt to kill, maim, or wound a person, or to rob a person, corporation, or community of money or other property, or to burn, blow up, or otherwise destroy a bank building, store, factory, dwelling house, or other building or depository of property, or a railway car or engine, or a steamboat, vessel, or other watercraft, finished or unfinished, for use in navigable waters, or property of a corporation subject to the supervision of the Public Utility Commission, each person so offending shall suffer the penalty of death. The provisions of this section shall be in force only while the United States is at war or threatened with war. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39, eff. March 1, 1961.)

• § 3485. Penalty when offense is treason

  A person who commits an offense punishable under one of sections 3482-3485 of this title, and such offense amounts to treason, shall be punished for treason in lieu of the penalty prescribed in such section. (Amended 2019, No. 77, § 16, eff. June 19, 2019.)