(a) A mandatory sanction may be imposed only by statute or ordinance or by a rule adopted in the manner provided in 3 V.S.A. §§ 836-844. A law or rule shall impose unambiguously a collateral consequence in order for a court to impose a collateral consequence.

(b) A law creating a collateral consequence that is ambiguous as to whether it imposes an automatic mandatory sanction or whether it authorizes a decision-maker to disqualify a person based upon his or her conviction shall be construed as authorizing a discretionary disqualification. (Added 2013, No. 181 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2016.)