Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 24, § 364 (2026)

Subchapter 007 : STATE'S ATTORNEY

• § 364. Investigator

  (a)(1) A State’s Attorney may appoint an investigator and, with the approval of the Governor, shall fix the investigator’s pay not to exceed that of a noncommissioned officer of the Department of Public Safety, and may remove the investigator at will.

  (2) An investigator shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in connection with his or her official duties when approved by the State’s Attorney and the Commissioner of Finance and Management.

  (3) Investigators shall take part in the investigation of crime, the detection of persons suspected of committing crimes, the preparation of any criminal cause for trial, and other tasks related to the office of the State’s Attorney.

  (4) No person may be appointed as an investigator unless he or she has had appropriate experience in investigative work for a period of not less than two years, including employment as a private detective or a law enforcement officer, or has successfully completed a course of training under 20 V.S.A. chapter 151.

  (b) A person appointed as an investigator who has obtained certification as a Level II or Level III law enforcement officer under the provisions of 20 V.S.A. § 2358 shall have the same powers as sheriffs in criminal matters and the enforcement of the law and in serving criminal process, and shall have all the immunities and matters of defense now available or hereafter made available to sheriffs in a suit brought against them in consequence for acts done in the course of their employment. (Added 1959, No. 299, § 1; amended 1967, No. 368 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 27, 1968; 1969, No. 266 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. April 8, 1970; 1971, No. 120, § 50, eff. July 1, 1971; 1973, No. 77, § 55, eff. July 1, 1973; 1981, No. 108, § 327; 1989, No. 297 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1995, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. June 6, 1996; 2003, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2007, No. 7, § 7; 2013, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. July 1, 2015.)