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 rate over 32% earlier in the year that the department reduced to “just under 18%.” He added that many employees leave in the first three to six months and that keeping new hires one additional pay period substantially raises the chances they will remain.

To address workplace factors that drive departures, DOC has implemented a suite of operational changes. Those include a newly created “staff experience supervisor” role at each facility to increase direct staff coaching; a central operations specialist (COS) team to handle burdens such as hospital coverage; supervisor‑focused training; and a recognition program. Demoloy also described technology pilots and operational redesigns — for example, automating perimeter checks, experimenting with rotating posts and team‑based stationing to reduce long, static shifts — that could reduce the human burden on staff.

The commissioner stressed that some proposals will require collective bargaining: rotating posts and other schedule changes “are probably a bargainable issue,” he said, but DOC will pursue pilots and negotiations where needed. He also signaled appetite for nonpay benefits to help retention (childcare, housing or transit assistance), while noting structural limits and the need for broader executive or legislative discussion for universal programs.

Committee members repeatedly pressed for immediate, radical changes to reduce mandatory 16‑hour workdays and excessive overtime. Demoloy responded that while the contract now moves overtime thresholds to 12‑hour shifts (a change bargained with BSEA), the department’s strategic plan also targets supervisory practice and workload engineering as necessary reforms. He described a near‑term plan to expand the next academy class and use targeted retention tactics so recruits pass the initial high‑attrition window.

The session included questions about field office staffing — Demoloy reported a 7.2% vacancy rate for probation, parole and administrative field work — and about whether population‑reduction strategies such as expanded furloughs could materially reduce facility staffing needs; he said Vermont’s furlough population is already low after prior justice reinvestment work.

The committee asked for the department’s strategic plan and the memo referenced in testimony; Demoloy said the plan extends through 2030 and that many operational pilots and bargaining negotiations are underway. He invited continued legislative engagement during the upcoming session.

The committee did not take a formal vote on policy changes at the hearing; lawmakers and the commissioner agreed to continue the conversation during the legislative session and to circulate DOC’s strategic plan for further review.