# Vermont

Vermont runs a unified corrections system: the Department of Corrections (DOC) operates every prison and detention facility and supervises probation and parole, and there are no county jails. The Commissioner sets correctional officer training, and no outside board certifies officers unless the Commissioner designates them for law enforcement certification. Since 2023 the State has let DOC staff serve as notaries, made peer support communications confidential, required a plan to relieve probation and parole officers of hospital coverage, and, from July 1, 2026, set rules on gender identity at intake, searches, and staff training.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/vermont

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** Department of Corrections. A “correctional officer” is any DOC employee whose duties include supervising or monitoring a person on parole, probation, or a sentence of incarceration, inside or outside a facility, “and who has received training, as approved by the Commissioner of Corrections, as provided in section 551a” (28 V.S.A. § 3(15)). The Vermont Criminal Justice Council certifies a correctional officer only if the Commissioner designates the officer for law enforcement certification ([28 V.S.A. § 551a(b)](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/28/007/00551a)); the Council is covered on the [Vermont Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/vermont).
- **Statute:** [Title 28 V.S.A.](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/title/28): chapter 3 (DOC administration, including § 127 peer support), chapter 5 (probation), chapter 7 (parole; § 551a arrest powers and training), chapter 11 (supervision of inmates, including § 701a segregation limits and § 801a pregnant inmates), and chapter 13 (town and village lockups). 20 V.S.A. chapter 151 governs Council certification.
- **Minimum standards:** No statutory hiring minimums (age, education, background) for DOC correctional officers were found in Title 28. DOC’s careers pages returned HTTP 403 on October 20, 2026 and were not used.
- **Basic training:** The Commissioner sets the training; a person is a correctional officer only after completing Commissioner-approved training (§ 3(15)). To arrest probationers, supervised community sentence offenders, and parolees, an officer must complete training that “shall include training in search and seizure, criminal law, authority to arrest, use of force, reporting and record keeping, and liability for actions and conduct” (§ 551a(a)). Academy length was not verified.
- **In-service training:** No statutory in-service hour requirement for DOC correctional officers was found. Since July 1, 2026, DOC must ensure staff and contractors “receive gender-responsive training proportional to their level of interaction with inmates” (28 V.S.A. § 129(a)(4)). Officers the Commissioner designates for Council certification follow the Council’s annual requirements.
- **Decertification:** Title 28 has no certification or decertification system for DOC correctional officers; DOC disciplines them as employer. Only officers designated for Council certification fall under the Council’s unprofessional-conduct process (20 V.S.A. chapter 151), described on the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/vermont).
- **Jail standards:** No county jails. Town and village lockups, which hold people up to 72 hours unless a court order extends the time (§ 1003), “must meet the standards established by the Commissioner of Corrections” ([28 V.S.A. § 1004(a)](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/28/013)). DOC operates all detention and correctional facilities, and the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee receives monthly segregation reports (§ 701a(c)).
- **Probation and parole officers:** DOC probation and parole officers are “correctional officers” under § 3(15), because the definition covers supervising people on probation or parole. Arresting probationers (§ 301), supervised community sentence offenders (§ 363), or parolees (§ 551) requires the § 551a(a) training ([28 V.S.A. chapter 7](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/28/007)). No separate outside certification exists. DOC supervision fees on probation, parole, and furlough are repealed effective July 1, 2027.
- **Restrictive housing:** Segregation of an inmate with a serious functional impairment is capped: 15 days for disciplinary segregation; 30 days if the inmate asked for it, renewable in 30-day periods with a qualified mental health assessment and physician approval; and 30 days for any other reason, renewable only after a due-process hearing with a mental health assessment and physician approval ([28 V.S.A. § 701a(a)](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/28/011/00701a)). DOC’s Health Services Director reports monthly to the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee on each inmate in segregation, the reason, length of stay, impairment status, and self-harm incidents (§ 701a(c)). “Segregation” covers any separation from general population, whatever it is called, except infirmary or treatment placement (§ 3(17)). No statutory cap applies to inmates without a serious functional impairment.
- **Corrections use of force:** DOC “shall not routinely restrain pregnant inmates who are beyond their first trimester” as it does other inmates; transport must use the least restrictive means; and mechanical restraints “of any kind shall not be used” once a practitioner declares active labor, with the inmate unrestrained in hospital recovery, unless there is a substantial flight risk or extraordinary circumstances, which require the Commissioner’s written findings ([28 V.S.A. § 801a](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/28/011/00801a)). Officers with arrest powers must be trained in use of force (§ 551a(a)). Since July 1, 2026, DOC may not search anyone “for the sole purpose of determining the individual’s genital status” (§ 130(b)). No general corrections use-of-force statute was found.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jul 1, 2026 — **Gender identity at intake, search limits, housing panels, and gender-responsive staff training** — 2025, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.) (H.550), adding 28 V.S.A. §§ 129, 130, and 701c and amending § 820 · Effective July 1, 2026 — New § 129: at intake, in private, DOC must ask each person’s gender identity, pronoun, and honorific, and, for transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex people, the requested gender of staff for searches; no one may be disciplined for declining to answer. DOC must ensure staff and contractors get gender-responsive training. New § 130: “The Department shall not search or physically examine, or request that contractors search or physically examine, any individual for the sole purpose of determining the individual’s genital status,” and requests for cross-gender searches get individualized review weighed against safety and security. New § 701c sends housing and classification decisions to multidisciplinary review panels. § 820 requires PREA standards and annual PREA data reports from 2027. The act renumbers the definitions in § 3 (correctional officer is now § 3(15), segregation § 3(17)); the § 551a training language is unchanged. — **For corrections staff:** Record intake gender identity and search-staff preferences, never search to determine genital status, and expect gender-responsive training. — [Act 117 as enacted](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT117/ACT117%20As%20Enacted.pdf)[Act summary](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT117/ACT117%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
- Jul 1, 2024 — **Plan to relieve probation and parole officers of hospital coverage; reentry medication rules** — 2023, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.) (H.876) · Effective July 1, 2024 — “It is the intent of the General Assembly to afford relief to the probation and parole officers of the Department of Corrections who are providing emergency coverage, in addition to their own duties and responsibilities, to supervise individuals in the custody of the Department who are located or admitted at hospitals.” DOC had to present a staffing plan by January 15, 2025, with staffing recommendations, staff numbers, and costs. The act also requires at least a 28-day medication supply and a prescription voucher at discharge, continued medication for opioid use disorder (28 V.S.A. § 801b), help getting identification, a family visitation study, and states an intent to end out-of-state and for-profit housing of Vermont inmates by 2034. — **For corrections staff:** Probation and parole officers pulled to guard hospitalized inmates have a statutory record of the problem and a required DOC staffing plan. — [Act 159 as enacted](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT159/ACT159%20As%20Enacted.pdf)[Act summary](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT159/ACT159%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
- Jul 1, 2023 — **Confidential peer support program for DOC staff** — 2023, No. 78 (appropriations act), Sec. E.335, adding 28 V.S.A. § 126, now § 127 · Effective July 1, 2023 — Sets a statutory framework for a DOC peer support program for staff “involved in a traumatic incident by reason of employment.” Participants may not disclose what is said in peer support sessions, or related communications among peer support specialists, participants, and other staff, except as subsection (d) provides. “Written communications described in this subsection, such as notes, records, and reports related to a peer support session, are exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential.” “Staff member” covers supervising officers, correctional officers, and all other DOC employees. The section was redesignated § 127 because 2023, No. 40 also added a § 126. — **For corrections staff:** What you tell a DOC peer support specialist after a critical incident is confidential by statute, subject to the exceptions in § 127(d). — [Act 78 as enacted](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT078/ACT078%20As%20Enacted.pdf)[28 V.S.A. § 127](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/28/003/00127)
- May 15, 2023 — **DOC employees may be commissioned as notaries for official duties** — 2023, No. 16 (H.178) · Effective May 15, 2023 — In the Legislative Counsel’s summary, the act “adds individuals employed by the Vermont Department of Corrections to the list of individuals who may be commissioned as notaries public to perform notarial acts within the scope of their official duties,” exempt from the regular notary requirements. — **For corrections staff:** Facility and field staff can notarize inmate and supervisee documents as part of the job once commissioned, without meeting the regular notary requirements. — [Act 16 as enacted](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT016/ACT016%20As%20Enacted.pdf)[Act summary](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT016/ACT016%20Act%20Summary.pdf)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

- **Supervision fees repealed (July 1, 2027):** 2025, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.) (H.635) repeals DOC supervision fees for probation, parole, furlough, and supervised community sentence, effective July 1, 2027. DOC must update its rules, policies, and procedures. [Act 113 summary](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT113/ACT113%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
- **Act 117 follow-up deadlines:** the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee’s own review of gender-affirming care in correctional settings, with recommended statutory language, was due to the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Institutions by October 15, 2026; PREA implementing policies are due January 15, 2027, and a PREA standards report December 15, 2027. Whether the October 2026 review was filed was not confirmed. [Act 117](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT117/ACT117%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
- **Officer-involved shooting protocol (report due December 1, 2026):** 2025, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.) (H.171), effective June 8, 2026, requires a joint report with an investigation protocol. It names the Attorney General, State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, the Department of Public Safety, and chiefs of police; it does not name DOC. [Act 115 summary](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT115/ACT115%20Act%20Summary.pdf)

Failed corrections bills were not swept for this page.

## Checked and unchanged

- Not verified: DOC correctional officer hiring minimums, academy length, in-service hours, and use-of-force directives, because DOC’s website returned HTTP 403 on October 20, 2026.
- Not reviewed for staff effects: 2025, No. 111 (Adj. Sess.) (H.559, Parole Board) and No. 139 (Adj. Sess.) (H.294, telecommunications and wages in correctional facilities), both effective July 1, 2026 per statute history notes.
- Not counted: 2025, No. 95 (Adj. Sess.) (H.519), which adds certain municipal law enforcement officers to the state retirement system’s Group G from January 1, 2027; its summary does not mention correctional officers.