Department of Corrections

Nick Deml came to Vermont after seven years working at the CIA. He’d never worked in corrections before and was tasked with navigating the pandemic, reforming a toxic workplace culture, and addressing an acute staffing shortage.

Nick Deml, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, will step down from the post on Aug. 15. In a press release on Monday, Gov. Phil Scott said former Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad will take over as interim commissioner.

Vermont’s prison population has risen back near pre-pandemic levels, largely driven by an increase in people held pre-trial, according to the Department of Corrections.

The state employees union and administration officials agree that there's a staffing crisis in Vermont's prisons. They're not on the same page when it comes to how to solve it.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott will introduce legislation that would create clearer legal standards for when a defendant can be held without bail. He said the provision will address a practice that his administration has coined “catch and release.”

Corrections officials say maintaining strong family bonds can improve outcomes for children and their incarcerated parents.

Restorative justice is a process that focuses on the offender repairing the harm caused by their actions, and uses dialogue and empathy rather than punishment. Vermont's only women's prison has had restorative justice classes for the past few years.

A state office is requesting zoning changes in Essex to build a correctional facility and reentry unit on state-owned land to replace the only women's prison in Vermont.

New data from the Vermont Department of Corrections shows a 25% increase in detainees in prisons from five years ago. Officials said it could be due to the pandemic-era backlog of cases.

A workplace safety complaint filed recently by the Vermont State Employees' Association alleges that staff at the state prison in Springfield are forced to work in excessively hot conditions.