Abbreviation VDOC Population 621,270 (2008 est.) | Operations jurisdiction* State of Vermont, USA | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Size 9,620 square miles (24,900 km) General nature Law enforcement
Civilian police | ||
The Vermont Department of Corrections is an executive agency of the U.S. state of Vermont charged with overseeing the state's correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the prevention of crime and delinquency. It is a part of the Vermont Agency of Human Services.
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Currently the agency is headquartered in the White Cap Business Park in Williston. The agency previously had its headquarters in the Waterbury State Office Complex in Waterbury.
State prison facilities
As of 2016 the Department of Corrections manages the operations of seven prison facilities within the state. There were 2,202 prisoners in the system in 2007.
The state's former Dale Women's Facility in Waterbury, Vermont closed in early 2009. State officials were considering closing its Caledonia Community Work Camp in St. Johnsbury, adjacent to the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility, in March 2016 because of underpopulation.
While security is handled by state employees, services, such as health services, have been contracted out. There are 600 corrections officers.
Vermont contracted with Corrections Corporation of America to house inmates in out-of-state private prisons beginning in the mid-1990s, and has continued the practice since. About 500 prisoners are held outside the state of Vermont. These prisoners cost half as much as the prisoners in state because of the economies of scale in larger prisons, and because only healthy state prisoners are exported.
In the past Vermont had prisoners at the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Kentucky (now closed), and at the Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona, both CCA properties. As of 2015 the state contracts with the GEO Group and has transferred out-of-state prisoners to the North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan.
Probation and parole offices
There are 13 community-based probation and parole offices throughout Vermont. These are under the administrative jurisdiction of the department. The offices are located in Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Chelsea (sub-office in Hartford District), Hartford, Middlebury (sub-office to Rutland), Morrisville, Newport, Rutland, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, and Springfield.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Vermont Department of Corrections, two officers have died in the line of duty.