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Committee reviews DOC 'earned time' rules; seeks recommendation at next meeting
Summary
Legislative counsel outlined Vermont’s earned (good) time policy—up to seven days per month for eligible incarcerated people for good behavior—and the committee set a follow‑up to decide how DOC applies earned time to specific custody statuses and notification rules.
The Justice Oversight Committee reviewed earned‑time ("good time") rules late in its September 18 session and asked the Department of Corrections and Legislative Council to prepare details ahead of a planned recommendation at the panel’s next meeting.
Ben Novogratzky of Legislative Council explained the statutory and rule framework: eligible incarcerated people can earn up to seven days per month from their minimum or maximum sentences for good behavior, provided they are not adjudicated for a final major disciplinary violation or reincarcerated for violating release conditions. The policy includes an exception that allows reductions for residential substance‑use treatment days for eligible inmates.
Novogratzky described two categories of major disciplinary violations (major A: violent acts/threats to institutional safety; major B: serious misconduct) and said earned‑time calculations require finalized adjudications (pending charges do not disqualify until adjudicated). He also noted earned‑time ineligibility for those on probation, parole, interrupted sentences and for people serving disqualifying offenses listed in statute (murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, sex offenses against children and specified aggravated assaults).
The counsel explained DOC must provide notifications to victims who opt in when an offender’s release schedule changes because earned time has shortened a sentence. Committee members asked about retroactivity rules, furloughs and administrative recordkeeping; Novogratzky said the current drafting applies forward and does not change eligibility for those already serving sentences prior to the referenced date.
The committee asked staff to prepare a focused recommendation on how earned time should be applied to particular custody statuses and to bring the underlying statutory citations and DOC rule text back to the next meeting for final action.
