2020 Vermont Statutes
Title 28 - Public Institutions and Corrections
Chapter 11 - Supervision of Adult Inmates at the Correctional Facilities
§ 818. Earned good time; reduction of term
§ 818. Earned good time; reduction of term
(a) On or before September 1, 2020, the Department of Corrections shall file a proposed rule pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 implementing an earned good time program to become effective on January 1, 2021. The Commissioner shall adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this section as an emergency rule and concurrently propose them as a permanent rule. The emergency rule shall be deemed to meet the standard for the adoption of emergency rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 844(a).
(b) The earned good time program implemented pursuant to this section shall comply with the following standards:
(1) The program shall be available for all sentenced offenders, including furloughed offenders, provided that the program shall not be available to offenders on probation or parole, to offenders eligible for a reduction of term pursuant to section 811 of this title, or to offenders sentenced to life without parole. Offenders currently serving a sentence shall be eligible to begin earning a reduction in term when the earned good time program becomes effective.
(2) Offenders shall earn a reduction of seven days in the minimum and maximum sentence for each month during which the offender:
(A) is not adjudicated of a major disciplinary rule violation; and
(B) is not reincarcerated from the community for a violation of release conditions, provided that an offender who loses a residence for a reason other than fault on the part of the offender shall not be deemed reincarcerated under this subdivision.
(3) An offender who receives post-adjudication treatment in a residential setting for a substance use disorder shall earn a reduction of one day in the minimum and maximum sentence for each day that the offender receives the inpatient treatment. While a person is in residential substance abuse treatment, he or she shall not be eligible for good time except as provided in this subsection.
(4) The Department shall:
(A) ensure that all victims of record are notified of the earned good time program at its outset and made aware of the option to receive notifications from the Department pursuant to this subdivision;
(B) provide timely notice not less frequently than every 90 days to the offender any time the offender receives a reduction in his or her term of supervision pursuant to this section;
(C) maintain a system that documents and records all such reductions in each offender's permanent record; and
(D) record any reduction in an offender's term of supervision pursuant to this section on a monthly basis and ensure that victims who want information regarding changes in scheduled release dates have access to such information. (Added 2019, No. 56, § 2, eff. June 10, 2019; amended 2019, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. July 13, 2020.)
