Correctional Services: Community Supervision

Facility (Incarceration) Statuses:

• Sentenced Statuses:

  • Sentenced: convicted of crime(s)

  • Sentenced/Detained: convicted of crime(s) and held pre-trial for other crime(s)

  • Sentenced W/Hold: convicted of crime(s) and held for US Marshals or other jurisdiction

  • Sentenced/Detained W/Hold: (rare) convicted of crime(s), held pre-trial for other crime(s), and held for US Marshals or other jurisdiction

• Detained Statuses:
  • Detained: awaiting adjudication for crime(s)
  • Detained W/Hold: awaiting adjudication for crime(s) and held for US Marshals or other jurisdiction
• Hold Status:
  • Hold: held for US Marshals or other jurisdiction

Field (Community Supervision) Statuses:

Furlough:

• Community Supervision Furlough (primary furlough status): At the completion of the minmum term of sentence, the incarcerated individual may be released to the community under conditions of furlough.
• Treatment Furlough:  A status for an individual who is participating in an approved residential treatment program outside of a correctional facility.
• Medical Furlough:  A status for an individual who is diagnosed with a terminal or debilitating condition.  The individual may be released to a hospital, hospice, or other licensed inpatient facility, or other housing accommodation deemed suitable by the Commissioner.
• Pre-Approved Furlough: Sentenced to confinement with prior approval of the Commissioner of Corrections, the individual is eligible for immmediate release on furlough. Furlough status is a community placement, but with more stsringent rules for behavior. Conditions of release typically contain treatment or community work crew.
• Home Detention: A program of confinement and supervision that restricts an unsentenced defendant to a pre-approved residence continuously, except for authorized absences, and is enforced by appropriate means of surveillance and electronic monitoring by the DOC.

Parole:  The release of an incarcerated individual to the community before the end of their sentence subject to conditions imposed by the Parole Board and subject to the supervision and control of the Commissioner of Corrections. Includes:

• Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision ("ICOTS"): An individual may be transferred to another state via the New England Interstate Corrections Compact, the Interstate Corrections Compact, and the Federal Beareau of Prisons contract at the discretion of the Commissioner/Designee when the classification process has determined out of state placement is appropriate.
• Supervised Community Sentence: Based on a law passed in 1990, the judge sentences, with prior approval of the Commissioner of Corrections, to a set of conditions, minimum and maximum time frames and an intermediate sanctions program under teh supervision of the Department of Corrections. The Parole Board is the appointed authority and violations are resolved through a Parole Hearing.

Probation:   An individual found guilty of a crime upon verdict or plea, is released by the court without confinement, subject to the conditions and supervision by the Commissioner of Corrections.  This is a contract between the individual and the court, to abide by conditions in return for the court not imposing a sentence of confinement.  Violation of this sanction requires due process, with a court hearing, counsel, and preponderance of evidence.  Within the probation sanction is the reparative probation program, which allows citizens on community panels to determine the quality of restitution made to the victim and repair of harm to the community, consistent with 28 VSA Chapter 12.

Work Crew: Individuals may work without pay and participate on a service team as a way of making amends to the community for criminal conduct.

The DOC serves the community as a partner in prevention, research, management, and intervention of criminal behavior.

The DOC currently has probation and parole offices in the following locations: Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Hartford, Middlebury, Morrisville, Newport, Rutland, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, and Springfield.

Community supervision of individuals is managed by 12 field probation and parole offices throughout the state. Supervision practices are based on research and the availability of resources. DOC structures supervision intensity based on the individual’s risk to re-offend and the severity of the offense. The foundations of effective supervision are quality risk assessment and the application of appropriate supervision services.  It is the implementation of purposeful interventions and activities that distinguishes supervision from mere monitoring and reporting of an individual's activities. Research has demonstrated that to reduce recidivism and obtain positive results from community supervision, combining risk control and risk reduction strategies is far more effective than selecting one strategy over the other. Risk control strategies are directed at deterring future non-compliance by holding individuals accountable through reprimands. Risk reduction strategies are directed at promoting future compliance by assisting the individual through information, education/training, counseling, programming, treatment, or other needs-reducing services to bring about positive changes in the circumstances that led to the non-compliant behavior. DOC implementation of evidence based practices contributes to successful completion of an individual's sentence with goal of reducing future criminal behavior.