Vermont § 751b - General provisions governing offender work

§ 751b. General provisions governing offender work

• (a) To return value to communities, to assist victims of crime, to establish good habits
  of work and responsibility, to promote the vocational training of offenders, to pursue
  initiatives with private business to enhance offender employment opportunities, and
  to reduce the cost of operation of the Department of Corrections and of other State
  agencies, offenders may be employed in the production and delivery of goods, services,
  and foodstuffs to communities, to victims of crime, to correctional facilities, to
  other State agencies, and to other public or private entities authorized by this subchapter.
  To accomplish these purposes, the Commissioner may establish and maintain industries,
  farms, and institutional work programs at appropriate correctional facilities or other
  locations, plus community service work programs throughout the State. (b) An offender shall not be required to engage in unreasonable labor or to perform any
  work for which he or she is declared unfit by a physician employed or retained by
  the Department. (c) The Commissioner shall establish written guidelines governing the hours and conditions
  of offender work, and the rates of compensation of offenders for employment. Wage
  payments of offenders shall be set aside in a separate fund. The guidelines of the
  Department may provide for the making of deductions from wages of offenders to defray
  part or all of the cost of offender maintenance or payments to victims of crime. The
  guidelines may also provide for the setting aside by the Department of a portion of
  an offender’s wages to enable the offender to contribute to the support of his or
  her dependents, if any, to make necessary purchases from a commissary, to purchase
  approved books, instruments, and instruction not supplied by a correctional facility,
  and to set aside sums to be paid to the offender upon release from the custody or
  supervision of the Commissioner. Any interest that accrues from these wages during
  the period of such custody of an offender shall be credited to any fund maintained
  by the correctional facility for the welfare of offenders. (d) The labor, work product, or time of an offender may be sold, contracted, or hired
  out by the State only: (1) To the federal government. (2) To any state or political subdivision of a state, or to any nonprofit organization
  that is exempt from federal or state income taxation, subject to federal law, to the
  laws of the recipient state, and to the rules of the Department, provided that the
  Commissioner or designee may disapprove any future sales of offender produced goods
  or services to any nonprofit organization. (3) To any private person or enterprise not involving the provision of the federally authorized
  Prison Industries Enhancement Program, provided that the Commissioner or designee
  shall first determine that the offender work product in question is not otherwise
  produced or available within the State. (4) To charitable organizations where the offender work product is the handicraft of offenders
  and the Commissioner or designee has approved such sales in advance. (5) To political subdivisions of the State, community organizations, private persons,
  or enterprises when the Governor has authorized the work of offenders as necessary
  and appropriate as a response to a civil emergency. (e) Offender work programs managers shall seek to offset production, service, and related
  costs from product and service sales; however, this financial objective of offsetting
  the costs to the Department of servicing and supervising offender work programs shall
  not be pursued to the detriment of accomplishing the purposes of offender work programs
  set out in subsection (a) of this section or to the detriment of private businesses
  as safeguarded by section 761 of this title. (f) The Department of Corrections shall, in any new initiative involving sales of offender
  work products, seek to use the provisions of the federally authorized Prison Industries
  Enhancement Program. (g) [Repealed.] (h) The Commissioner shall consult and collaborate with the Commissioner of Labor at least
  annually to seek funding and support for vocational training for offenders to help
  offenders achieve a successful transition from the custody of the Commissioner to
  private life. To the extent feasible, any vocational training program for offenders
  shall incorporate the professional training standards applicable to the construction
  and other trades, and industries, existing in the private sector. (Added 1999, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 58, eff. May 24, 2000; amended 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2009, No. 33, § 51; 2019, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.)