2019 Vermont Statutes
Title 28 - Public Institutions and Corrections
Chapter 11 - Supervision Of Adult Inmates At The Correctional Facilities
§ 808b Home confinement furlough
§ 808b. Home confinement furlough
(a) An offender may be sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment, but placed by a court on home confinement furlough that restricts the defendant to a preapproved place of residence continuously, except for authorized absences. Home confinement furlough shall be enforced by appropriate means of supervision, including electronic monitoring and other conditions such as limitations on alcohol, visitors, and access to firearms imposed by the court or the Department, or both.
(b) The Department, in its own discretion, may place on home confinement furlough an offender who has not yet served the minimum term of the sentence for an eligible misdemeanor as defined in section 808d of this title if the Department has made a determination based upon a risk assessment that the offender poses a low risk to public safety or victim safety and that employing an alternative to incarceration to hold the offender accountable is likely to reduce the risk of recidivism.
(c) In determining whether a home confinement furlough sentence is appropriate and whether a place of residence is suitable for such a sentence, all of the following shall be considered:
(1) The nature of the offense with which the defendant was charged and the nature of the offense of which the defendant was convicted.
(2) The defendant's criminal history record, history of violence, medical and mental health needs, history of supervision, and risk of flight.
(3) Any risk or undue burden to other persons who reside at the proposed residence or risk to third parties or to public safety that may result from such placement.
(d)(1) A home confinement furlough shall not exceed a total of 180 days and shall require the defendant:
(A) to remain at a preapproved residence at all times except for preapproved absences for work, school, treatment, attorney appointments, court appearances, and other obligations as the court may order; or
(B) to remain at a preapproved residence 24 hours a day on lock-down status except for medical appointments and court appearances.
(2) In cases involving offenders convicted of a listed crime, the defendant shall remain at a preapproved residence at all times except for preapproved absences for work, school, treatment, attorney appointments, court appearances, and other obligations as the court or Department may authorize. The day the absences are approved, the court or the Department shall provide a record to the prosecutor's office documenting the date, time, location, and purpose of the authorized absences. The authorized absences may commence no earlier than 24 hours following notification to the prosecutor's office. The Department may reschedule authorized absences only after providing 72 hours' advance notice to the prosecutor's office. In the case of a medical emergency, the notice required by this subdivision shall be provided as soon as practicable after the emergency.
(e) [Repealed.] (Added 2011, No. 41, § 3a; amended 2011, No. 41, § 3c, eff. April 1, 2013; 2015, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)
