Vermont corrections commissioner calls staffing levels a 'crisis,' outlines systemic reforms

Commissioner Nick Demoloy told the Joint Justice interim committee on December afternoon that Vermont’s Department of Corrections is confronting a deep staffing and retention crisis that cannot be solved by pay increases alone. “Nothing about this is normal or functional,” he said, calling current vacancy levels a crisis.

Demoloy said DOC has taken several steps in the last three years to retain and support staff, including redesigning pay charts, making prior side‑letter pay increases permanent and investing in wellness and peer‑support programs. “We have spent 3 years with this as our primary focus … We’ve spent over $30,000,000 above the budget on compensation alone in the last 3 years,” he told the committee.

But the commissioner emphasized that recruitment is not the primary weakness. “We are recruiting very well. It’s a retention issue,” he said, citing DOC data that showed a vacancy…