2013 Vermont Statutes
Title 18 Health
Chapter 86 THERAPEUTIC USE OF CANNABIS
§ 4474 Registered caregivers; qualification standards and procedures

4474. Registered caregivers; qualification standards and procedures

(a) A person may submit a signed application to the department of public safety to become a registered patient's registered caregiver. The department shall approve or deny the application in writing within 30 days. The department shall approve a registered caregiver's application and issue the person an authorization card, including the caregiver's name, photograph, and a unique identifier, after verifying:

(1) the person will serve as the registered caregiver for one registered patient only; and

(2) the person has never been convicted of a drug-related crime.

(b) Prior to acting on an application, the department shall obtain from the Vermont criminal information center a Vermont criminal record, an out-of-state criminal record, and a criminal record from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the applicant. For purposes of this subdivision, "criminal record" means a record of whether the person has ever been convicted of a drug-related crime. Each applicant shall consent to release of criminal records to the department on forms substantially similar to the release forms developed by the center pursuant to 20 V.S.A. 2056c. The department shall comply with all laws regulating the release of criminal history records and the protection of individual privacy. The Vermont criminal information center shall send to the requester any record received pursuant to this section or inform the department of public safety that no record exists. If the department disapproves an application, the department shall promptly provide a copy of any record of convictions and pending criminal charges to the applicant and shall inform the applicant of the right to appeal the accuracy and completeness of the record pursuant to rules adopted by the Vermont criminal information center. No person shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of criminal record information to any person who would not be eligible to receive the information pursuant to this subchapter.

(c) A registered caregiver may serve only one registered patient at a time, and a registered patient may have only one registered caregiver at a time. (Added 2003, No. 135 (Adj. Sess.), 1; amended 2011, No. 65, 1, eff. June 2, 2011.)