Drunken driving case may linger for Addison state’s attorney due to new disciplinary action

BURLINGTON — Prosecutors don’t want Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos’ drunken driving conviction expunged from her record yet, because they say the move could jeopardize a new professional disciplinary proceeding against her.

A delay in expungement, which the defense opposed and a judge has yet to decide, would deviate from typical court procedure.

The two sides argued the point at a hearing Monday in Chittenden County Superior Court in Burlington.

Vekos pleaded no contest to a drunken driving charge in December 2025, following her arrest in January 2024. Her sentence was deferred for six months, meaning the conviction could be stricken from her record if she complied with the conditions of her probation for that period.

Usually, if a defendant completes probation for a deferred sentence without any violations, the charge is struck from their record and the case is expunged, meaning that all state agencies and departments must treat the crime as if no record of it exists. Striking a conviction keeps it from appearing on a person’s record, but documents related to the case are still available unless those are expunged.

Vekos’ drunken driving conviction has already been struck from her record, Judge John Pacht said Monday. The prosecution argued the state should delay expunging her record.

That’s because the state’s Professional Responsibility Board, which investigates allegations of attorney misconduct, filed a new disciplinary action against Vekos on Thursday with the Vermont Supreme Court. The complaint — which became publicly available Tuesday — focuses on Vekos’ conduct during and after her arrest.

During the Monday hearing, Assistant Attorney General Rosemary Kennedy said the state’s disciplinary case against Vekos relies on a lot of the same evidence that was used in her drunken driving case.

Expunging Vekos’ record so soon could sacrifice the separate disciplinary proceeding, Kennedy told the court.

“We were concerned that if the court ordered an expungement order in this case, that the case that is currently pending in the Supreme Court would go away,” Kennedy said, referencing the disciplinary action.

Once a defendant’s record is expunged, those involved in investigating the case tend to act as if the crime never happened, Kennedy said. That could complicate efforts to find witnesses in the disciplinary case, she added.

“In essence, institutional memory is erased,” Kennedy said.

In turn, Vekos’ lawyer, David Sleigh, argued the court should follow its typical procedure.

“There’s no argument here that there wasn’t a successful fulfillment of the deferred sentence agreement,” Sleigh said.

Sleigh said a deferred sentence is like a contract between the state and a defendant. Vekos agreed to follow certain terms in exchange for receiving two main benefits: having her conviction stricken and her record expunged, he said.

Because Vekos upheld her end of the agreement, she should reap the benefits, Sleigh argued.

The complaint filed against Vekos last week is the Professional Responsibility Board’s first formal action against her. While Vekos was serving her deferred sentence, the state Supreme Court granted a temporary suspension of her law license in April.

The disciplinary complaint largely alleges that Vekos violated the rules of attorney conduct by driving under the influence of alcohol, asking the officers who arrested her for special treatment, and failing to respond to inquiries about a medical leave she took after her arrest, court documents show.

The professional board, through filing a disciplinary complaint, could seek to suspend Vekos’ law license or have her disbarred. Including her time as Addison County state’s attorney, Vekos has spent the last 30 years as an attorney, according to an op-ed she wrote.

Vekos is not seeking reelection after she rebuffed calls from both her own Democratic Party and Republican Gov. Phil Scott to resign. Those calls for her resignation followed a VTDigger investigation that revealed Vekos was facing multiple ethics complaints from crime victims who accused her of mistreating them.

During the Monday hearing, Pacht did not say when he might issue a decision.

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.