Act No. 159 Page 1 of 2
2024
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the General Assembly. It
is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be exhaustive. It has been prepared by the
staff of the Office of Legislative Counsel without input from members of the General Assembly. It is not
intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 159 (H.876). An act relating to miscellaneous amendments to the corrections laws
Subjects: Corrections; earned time; medical care
This act enhances procedures to assist with an individual’s reentry into the community
from a Department of Corrections’ (the Department) correctional facility, as well as
creating initiatives to reduce the incarcerative population, expand earned time programs,
enhance approaches to family visitation in correctional facilities, and increase the
Department’s hospital coverage staffing.
Specifically, this act requires the Department to provide offenders who are prescribed
medication while incarcerated with not less than a 28-day supply of the medication and a
prescription voucher to redeem within the community upon discharge, contingent on the
medication’s availability and appropriateness. Additionally, the Department is required
to provide offenders who are prescribed medication for opioid use disorder a legally
sufficient supply to ensure that the offender can continue taking the medication upon
discharge with enough time to obtain the prescription in the community. In both
circumstances, the Department must identify health care providers or substance use
treatment programs and help with scheduling to continue care as part of the offender’s
reentry plan. The act also requires the Department to coordinate with the Department of
Motor Vehicles to assist in the provision of a non-driver identification card upon
discharge, as well as provide information on other forms of identification and driving
privileges.
This act also charges the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee to explore the
expansion of the Department’s earned time program to include parolees, as well as
expanding the program to permit earned time for educational credits earned by both
offenders and parolees. The act also creates the Family Friendly Visitation Study
Committee to examine how the Department can facilitate greater family friendly
visitation methods of all inmates who identify as partners, guardians, and parents with
visitation rights.
Additionally, this act expresses the General Assembly’s intent to eliminate Vermont’s
practice of housing inmates in privately operated, for-profit, or out-of-state correctional
facilities by 2034. With that in mind, various arms of State government must collaborate
and submit a report to committees of jurisdiction detailing methods to reduce the number
of offenders and detainees in Vermont correctional facilities. Moreover, the act charges
the Department and Department of Buildings and General Services to submit
recommendations to committees of jurisdiction detailing the incorporation of modern
reentry and transitional services to assist in obtaining housing, job opportunities, and
other services to reintegrate into society, along with the recommended size of a new
women’s correctional facility, including the scope and quality of programming and
services offered.
VT LEG #378029 v.2
Act No. 159 Page 2 of 2
2024
Finally, the General Assembly desires afford relief to probation and parole officers
that provide emergency hospital coverage in addition to their own duties by having the
Department present a plan to the committees of jurisdiction to address the attendant
staffing issues in hospitals.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024
VT LEG #378029 v.2


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 28-801, 28-801b, 28-818, 23-115
As Passed By the House -- Official: 28-801, 28-801b, 28-818, 23-115
As Passed By the House -- Unofficial: 28-801, 28-801b, 28-818, 23-115
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 28-801, 28-801b, 28-818, 23-115
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 28-801, 28-801b, 23-115
As Enacted: 28-801, 28-801b, 23-115