DOC seeks $300,000 to study converting St. Johnsbury into intensive substance‑use treatment center

The Institutions Committee on Feb. 18 heard testimony from Nick Dillon, Commissioner of Corrections, about a $300,000 line in the governor’s proposed FY26 general fund budget to study converting part of the St. Johnsbury corrections campus into an intensive, in‑residence substance‑use treatment program.

Dillon told the committee the department already has “the infrastructure already,” and that the money would be used chiefly to contract experts to design a program that could be implemented inside the secure facility. “We have the beds, we have the staff in place,” Dillon said. “What we don’t have is the intensive programming and the substance use specific model that moves people through the recovery journey.”

Why it matters: the department reported a daily incarcerated population of about 1,415 people, roughly two‑thirds sentenced and one‑third pretrial detainees. Dillon said nearly 70 percent of that population have opioid use disorder and that adding other substances would put “us close to 100 percent” with some substance‑use problem, making treatment availability inside corrections a system‑wide issue.

What the proposal would fund: Dillon described the $300,000 as primarily a planning and startup appropriation. He said roughly two‑thirds of the amount would pay consultants — clinical psychologists and treatment‑design experts — to…