Title 28, Title 28: Public Institutions and Corrections

§ 4. Standard measure of recidivism The Department shall calculate the rate of recidivism based upon offenders who are sentenced to more than one year of incarceration who, after release from incarceration, return to prison within three years for a conviction for a new offense or…

§ 101. Powers of the Department The Department is charged with the following powers: (1) to establish, maintain, and administer such State correctional facilities and programs as may be required for the custody, control, correctional treatment, and rehabilitation of committed per…

§ 102. Commissioner of Corrections; appointment; powers; responsibilities (a) The Department is under the direction of the Commissioner, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Human Services with the approval of the Governor and shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. T…

§ 103. Inquiries and investigations into the administration of the Department (a) The Commissioner at all times shall have unlimited access to all correctional facilities and to all records and books at the facilities, and may conduct inquiries and investigations concerning all m…

§ 104. Notification of community placements (a) The Department shall provide notice when appropriate and at the Department’s sole discretion to affected State, county, and local criminal justice entities and to local legislative bodies for the purposes of permitting public input …

§ 105. Caseload capacity (a) Corrections officers designated to work exclusively with offenders in the community who are 21 years of age and younger shall have caseloads of not more than 25 youths. (b) The Department shall review the severity of offenses and assess the risk to re…

§ 106. Systems approach to community supervision of sex offenders (a) The Department of Corrections shall establish a comprehensive systems approach to the management of sex offenders, which employs longer and more intensive community supervision of high-risk sex offenders. To ac…

§ 107. Offender and inmate records; confidentiality; exceptions; corrections (a)(1) The Commissioner shall adopt a rule pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 defining what are “offender and inmate records” produced or acquired by the Department. (2) As used in this section, the phrase …

§ 120. Department of Corrections education program; independent school (a) Authority. An education program is established within the Department of Corrections for the education of persons who have not completed secondary education or are assessed to have a moderate-to-high crimin…

§ 121. Community High School of Vermont Board (a) A board is established for the purpose of advising the Director of Corrections Education when serving as the Superintendent of the Community High School of Vermont, the independent school established in section 120 of this title. …

§ 122. Contracting for programming and services For the purpose of securing programming and services for offenders, the Department of Corrections shall publicly advertise or invite three or more bids. The contract for any such programming and services shall be awarded to one of t…

§ 124. Department of Corrections; Corrections Investigative Unit (a) Creation. There is created the Corrections Investigative Unit (CIU) within the Department. The CIU shall investigate the following topics to comply with federal law and to identify systemic issues within the Dep…

§ 127. Department of Corrections; peer support program; confidentiality (a) As used in this section: (1) “Department” has the same meaning as in subdivision 3(4) of this title. (2) “Participant” means a Department staff member who has been involved in a traumatic incident by reas…

§ 128. Incarcerated parents and guardians; Family Support Program (a) Family Support Program. The Department of Corrections shall establish the Family Support Program to provide free parenting and family support at each correctional facility to all incarcerated individuals who ar…

§ 200. Purpose of probation It is the policy of this State that the purpose of probation is to rehabilitate offenders, reduce the risk that they will commit a subsequent offense, and protect the safety of the victim and the community. (Added 2021, No. 24, § 1.)

§ 201. Definitions Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different meaning plainly is required, “probation” means a procedure under which a respondent, found guilty of a crime upon verdict or plea, is released by the court, without confinement, subject to conditions imposed by …

§ 202. Powers and responsibilities of the Commissioner regarding probation The Commissioner shall be charged with the following powers and responsibilities regarding the administration of probation: (1) To maintain general supervision of persons placed on probation, and to prescr…

§ 203. Probation warrant (a) Whenever a probationer is placed in the custody of the Commissioner, the court shall furnish the Commissioner with a warrant setting forth the name of the probationer, the nature of the crime of which he or she was convicted, the date and place of tri…

§ 204. Submission of written report; production of records (a) A court, before which a person is being prosecuted for any crime, may in its discretion order the Commissioner to submit a written report as to the circumstances of the alleged offense and the character and previous c…

§ 204a. Sex offenders; presentence investigations; risk assessments; psychosexual evaluations (a) The Department of Corrections shall conduct a presentence investigation for all persons convicted of: (1) lewd and lascivious conduct in violation of 13 V.S.A. § 2601; (2) lewd and l…

§ 204b. High-risk sex offenders A person who is sentenced to an incarcerative sentence for a violation of any of the offenses listed in subsection 204a(a) of this title and who is designated by the Department of Corrections as high-risk pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 5411b while serving…

§ 205. Probation (a)(1) After passing sentence, a court may suspend all or part of the sentence and place the person so sentenced in the care and custody of the Commissioner upon such conditions and for such time as it may prescribe in accordance with law or until further order o…

§ 206. Expenses of probationer When a person is placed on probation, the Commissioner may expend such sums as deemed necessary for the temporary support of the person, his or her traveling expenses, or other purposes consistent with the policies of the Department regarding probat…

§ 207. Final judgment Notwithstanding the fact that a sentence to probation can subsequently be modified or revoked in accordance with subchapters 2 and 3 of this chapter, a judgment that includes such a sentence shall constitute a final judgment for all other purposes. (Added 19…

§ 251. Duration of probation (a) The court placing a person on probation may terminate the period of probation and discharge the person at any time if such termination is warranted by the conduct of the offender and the ends of justice. (b)(1) Upon the Commissioner’s motion to di…

§ 252. Conditions of probation and midpoint review (a) Conditions, generally. The conditions of probation shall be such as the court in its discretion deems reasonably necessary to ensure that the offender will lead a law-abiding life or to assist the offender to do so. The court…

§ 252a. Review of probation conditions (a) When the court imposes a sentence upon a defendant who has been convicted of an offense enumerated in section 204a of this title that includes a period of incarceration of more than one year to serve to be followed by probation, the cour…

§ 253. Modification of conditions; revocations (a) During the period of probation, the court, on application of a probation officer or of the offender, or on its own motion, may modify the requirements imposed upon the offender or add further requirements authorized by section 25…

§ 254. Attendance at treatment facility (a) The court may require a person as a condition of probation to participate as a resident or nonresident in programs at a treatment center for all or part of the period of probation, provided that the Commissioner certifies that adequate …

§ 255. Discharge (a) Upon the termination of the period of probation or the earlier discharge of the probationer in accordance with section 251 of this title, the probationer shall, unless the court has ordered otherwise or under 13 V.S.A. § 7043(l), be relieved of any obligation…

§ 256. Graduated sanctions for technical violations (a) At any time before the discharge of the probationer or the termination of the period of probation if, in the judgment of the Commissioner, the probationer has violated a condition or conditions of his or her probation, other…

§ 301. Summons or arrest of probationer At any time before the discharge of the probationer or the termination of the period of probation: (1) Summons or warrant for arrest. The court may summon the probationer to appear before it or may issue a warrant for his or her arrest. (2)…

§ 302. Notice; hearing (a) The court shall not revoke probation without a proceeding conducted in open court. The procedure of such hearing shall include: (1) the probationer has violated one or more conditions of probation; (2) aprior written notice to the probationer stating th…

§ 303. Grounds for revocation (a) Probation shall not be revoked unless the probationer violates a condition of his or her probation or is convicted of another crime. The violation or conviction shall be both a necessary and a sufficient ground for the revocation of probation. (b…

§ 304. Disposition alternatives upon violation of probation (a) If a violation is established by a proceeding conducted in accordance with section 302 of this title, the court may, in its discretion, revoke probation and require the probationer to serve the sentence that was susp…

§ 305. Duration of alternative sentence When a probationer who has paid a portion of a fine, as provided in subdivision 252(b)(7) of this title, is committed for a violation of the conditions of his or her probation, the amount so paid shall be stated in the mittimus and shall be…

§ 351. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Supervised community sentence” means a form of imprisonment to be served outside the walls of a correctional facility, subject to the rules of the Commissioner and subject to revocation and incarceration pursuant to this chapter. (…

§ 352. Supervised community sentence (a) At the request of the court, the Commissioner of Corrections shall prepare a preliminary assessment to determine whether an offender should be considered for a supervised community sentence. (b) Upon adjudication of guilt, a finding of vio…

§ 353. Powers and responsibilities of the Commissioner of Corrections; supervised community sentence The Commissioner shall be charged with the following powers and responsibilities regarding the administration of supervised community sentences: (1) To maintain general supervisio…

§ 354. Rules of Parole Board The Parole Board shall adopt such rules consistent with the provisions of this chapter as it considers proper and necessary regarding the arrest, detention, and release of offenders pending a review by the Board, the administration of Board hearings, …

§ 361. Reduction of term Each successful day completed by an offender serving a supervised community sentence while in the community shall be counted as one day served for the total sentence of imprisonment. So long as an offender is serving a supervised community sentence in the…

§ 362. Duration of supervised community sentence A sentence of supervised community sentence shall not terminate earlier than the expiration of the minimum term of imprisonment ordered by the sentencing court. Upon the expiration of the minimum sentence, the offender’s case shall…

§ 363. Summons or arrest of person serving a supervised community sentence (a) Parole Board warrant. The Parole Board may issue a warrant for the arrest of an offender or a notice, to be served personally upon the offender, requiring the offender to appear before the Board, if th…

§ 364. Release pending hearing Pending a hearing upon any charge of violation, the Parole Board may authorize the offender’s release from detention in accordance with the procedures set forth in 13 V.S.A. § 7554. For the purposes of this section, a judicial officer as defined in …

§ 365. Notification of Board; hearing (a) Upon the arrest and detention of an offender, the supervising Corrections employee shall notify the Board immediately and shall submit in writing a report describing the alleged violation of a condition or conditions or alleged violation …

§ 371. Authority of the Parole Board If the offender commits an act punishable as a crime, or violates a condition of sentence during the period of supervised community sentence, the Parole Board may revoke the offender’s service of sentence outside a correctional facility and re…